


On The Edge

by MeagstheWriter



Series: Edge of Something [1]
Category: Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Billy is an angel, Character Study, Denial of Feelings, F/F, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Jason is the same as the movie, Jason is....trying, Kim and Zack are bros, Kim is a soft bi who needs a hug, Mental Health Issues, Pre-Relationship, Trini is understanding af, Zack Taylor & Trini are Bros, they all need a hug tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2018-10-25 12:10:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 56,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10764000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeagstheWriter/pseuds/MeagstheWriter
Summary: The first time Kim and Trini meet isn't at the mines, it's on the roof of the school. Why does Kim not remember her? Better question, does Trini remember what happened on the roof?





	1. Weightlessness

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to try my had at Trimberly since I've been in the trash heap for a good minute. These are my headcanons and if I offend anyone down the line call me out on it. Find me on Tumblr @nayacutyonails if you want to chat about these idiots and enjoy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim is a sea of emotions and likes to jump from high places to cope.

It's her favorite time of day. When she can forget about the judgemental stares, even though she deserves them, and can just be herself. The time of day where she can stand on her cliff edge that leads to the calm waters she grew up learning how to swim in. Whenever things get to be too much coming here and diving into the water below her always seems to relax her. Her therapist says swimming helps her relax so who is she to go against doctor's orders.

She remembers the first time she was up this high. It was the lowest point her life, and she couldn't forget if she tried. She was on the roof of the school right after the picture surfaced and just after she knocked Ty's tooth out. She ran all the way to the roof and just sat on the edge just to get away from it all. She just needed a quiet place to think, but she couldn't find it anywhere. She looked over the edge for a little bit too long before she stood ready to jump. She had always loved being high in the air, her love of gymnastics and cheerleading enabling her in that love, that feeling of weightlessness in the drop is betterment than any drug.

She's always been impulsive, sending the picture was an impulsive decision, but the decision to jump off the roof of the school to end her life? Yeah that was a new low for her. If it wasn't for some girl that was on the roof too that told her to stop Kim would be dead by now. She didn't know the girl, and she didn't even say anything special. There was just something about how she said the words that made Kim feel like she wasn't alone. Like she went through the same thing Kim did. 

After that day she never saw that girl again around school, and she looked all over for her. Then again the girl was spending her lunch period on the roof instead of in the cafeteria or library. Maybe she just didn't want to be found and that is something Kim can relate to. Which brings her back to the present on the cliff. When things always got to be too much for her she ended up here. When she did something for herself that inevitably made her parents upset, she ended up here. When she couldn't find anyone to be her friend, like her therapist asked her to do, she came here. When it felt like she was living someone else's life, Kim stood on this cliff that had a great view of the lake and shut the rest of the world off. 

This was her place. It was far enough from the trail that if you found it you likely were lost and looking for something else. She first came out here when she was ten and hiking with her father. When you're the only Indian kid in your small town you get picked on a lot, so her father brought her up here as a way to bond and talk to her. It was here that she decided to take self defense classes to ward off bullies at ten and join gymnastics at eleven. She found the cliff when she was twelve. After promising her mother that she wasn't going to go far from the house by herself that is exactly what she did. On the way back she had got lost and ended up following the sound of water. Knowing the lake was close to her house she followed the sound not paying attention, and almost fell in from the very cliff Kim stands on now.

If it wasn't past her curfew she would have stayed out on her cliff the whole night until the sun rose. Later when she was older, and learned the art of sneaking out she did stay out on the cliff until sunrise. Not only was it beautiful it watch the sun rise, but it was the first time she felt like herself since she was twelve. Kim ends up here more than she's at home most of the time. She always told her parents that's she's going for a jog, but now they don't care where she is as long as she's out of the house. There used to be a time where she wouldn't leave her room if it wasn't for school, and that is how she got the therapist and an Antidepressants prescription. She would shut the world off, pull her covers over her head, and sit in complete silence. In the dark. Once her parents figured out that that wasn't just Kimberly being a teenage girl they took her to a therapist to see what was wrong. 

After that she realized she wasn't as alone as she thought and started opening up to her parents more, which led to her coming out as a bisexual. Kimberly was always sure of herself and her sexuality it was never a question. Why would she deny herself of being with someone attractive just because they were another girl? That's like saying she'll only date another Indian person. In such a small town where all of the Indian population is probably her family and one other, she would never date until she left for college. That doesn't mean dating for her was easy by any means, it was just easier to keep your options open. She has had to deal with multiple racist elder relatives of the people she dated. Luckily they didn't last long in her life to leave a lasting impression on her life to actually her feelings. 

As Kim takes a deep breath and jumps in the water, she comes up for air as a new woman. She feels like she's being baptized all over again. As she lazily floats on her back, she gazes up at the full moon and smiles a true smile that reaches her eyes. Tomorrow is just another Saturday where she'll go to detention for three hours and ignore Jason Scott's attempts to talk to her. The routine may make her want to beat herself over the head with a rock, but no matter what happens at the end of the day she'll always have her lake and her Cliff.


	2. Space and Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini has been through some shit. You can probably guess, but let's see what she does to unwind anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hit up Google for some knowledge on Tai Chi. If I fucked up let me know. Other than that enjoy Trini, and a bit of Zack. Hit me up on twitter or tumblr if you want to chat @nayacutyonails

Silence. That is Trini's favorite sound in the world, other than the sound of a white man screaming about how horrible life is. Those moments when her mother isn't yelling at her for existing the wrong way. Those moments in between songs where you can hear the surroundings and be at total peace. Yeah those are her favorite moments, because that's when it's time to breathe. Learning tai-chi from her Aunt Trini, through marriage, before she passed really taught her to appreciate silence and the moments of nothing in life. Something doesn't always need to happen and sometimes when things aren't happening are the most important. 

Trini is what most people would call a loner. She's introverted and doesn't speak unless directly spoken to, and some people take offense to that. Her aunt Trini, who she's nicknamed after, understood that because she was the same. When you are surrounded by people that take up room literally and figuratively you have to make time and room for yourself. Space. That is another thing Trini loves, she loves the outdoors. Surprising I know, but she loves when she gets to go up and down the trails before sunrise and just be by herself.

In every new town she finds her spot. Being an Army-brat she's lived in more small towns that she can remember, but she can always remember her spot. The abandoned boat house on the beach, the man made fishing hole, and the park gazebo are all clear in her mind. But if you asked Trini the names of those towns she couldn't tell you for certain. She was never a person to care about things like that, but Trini cared about character.

A place's, or person's, character is what is truly most important about them. Some people believe that we are ruled by our emotions, and while that may be true Trini has a better theory. She believes that our actions are fueled by our emotions combined with learned behavior's we already know and have in us. It's why Billy Cranston, the kid on the autism spectrum, reacts the way he does when doucebag Danny bothers him. 

It's also the reason why she spends most of her weekends at the mine practicing her tai chi. Trini is trained in multiple types of martial arts, a ploy to get her out of the house as a kid, so her hands and feet are registered weapons in the state of California. As much as she would love to beat those bimbo cheerleaders to a quivering mess, she just doesn't want to go to jail for it. Assault with a deadly weapon and all that. Yeah she already has her mom giving her monthly drug tests, she doesn't need to add jail time to the things she yells at her about.

Tai Chi, unlike the other fighting styles Trini knows, isn't about actually about fighting a physical opponent. At least that's not the reason she learned it. She doesn't use her tai chi to fight, but to center herself and focus her breathing. She originally tried just meditation but she could never sit still for long, so she asked her Aunt Trini to teach her the fighting style. Along with the training she also taught her enough Mandarin to hold a polite conversation with someone. 

Speaking of which here comes train kid geez does he wear anything but all black? She doesn't know his name and she doubts he knows hers. He comes here all the time and just sits on top of that abandoned train car. Sometimes he watches her and makes comments, and other times he silently joins her in her tai chi. She doesn't want to seem racist and ask him about it, just because he's Asian doesn't mean he speaks Mandarin or is even Chinese. He just let a few words slip about how he missed a call from his mother, and she just replied in Mandarin as if he was talking to her.

He just smiled and left with a wave and something about getting home to take care of his mother. Trini had thought she'd done something wrong, but when he showed up the next morning with an extra granola bar for her and a smile. All he said to her was that her Mandarin was rusty and that he could make sure she didn't forget it because she didn't use it enough if she wanted. She just bumped their shoulders together and bit into the granola bar with a small smile. 

They don't spend every day they both happen to be at the mines together. Sometimes he needs his space and sometimes she's so angry at her mother that she wants to punch the closest thing to her that even remotely looks like a human being. Like right now. She has her headphones blasting Metallica as she angrily goes through her routine trying to calm down. Her mother said something about setting her up with a "nice boy", a coworker's son around her age, and she had to hold in her anger. She knows he's watching over her, waiting for the moment it's okay for him to talk to her, from on top of the train car. His spot that helps him deal with the fact that his mother probably won't see him graduate and that's why he doesn't go to school.

Compared to him her problems are chump change, but he always listens and never judges her. For that she is grateful. Her brothers are too young to understand and her father would just fein neutrality in order to make it seem like he's not siding with her mother. Train kid doesn't know her mother, and if she can help it he never will, but he is always there. He sees her for the person she is, or is becoming not quite there yet, and she sees him. Space and silence. Yeah those are her favorite things, but sometimes sharing space and silence with someone else who gets it isn't half bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was a fun write. Next chapter will be back with Kim and the movie will actually come into play. And maybe I'll finally write some dialogue who knows? Leave a comment of a song you think describes Trini or Kim I'm making a playlist.   
> Happy Reading   
> Peace,  
> Meags✌


	3. Impulse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of the shit that happened in the movie and BILLY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took some liberties with the scenes and some dialogue hope you don't mind. Enjoy it yeah?

Detention. Every Saturday morning from nine to noon she has detention. Punishment for punching Ty's tooth out on school property, like she isn't suffering enough from that already. Personally she wouldn't mind detention if she could be in the library instead of the shop classroom. That way she could just read a book every Saturday and actually do something productive while still avoiding her homework. If there wasn't a person that takes attendance every week she would skip it, send someone else in her place as if she still has that power, but the downside to being popular is that everyone knows your face and name. She passes a familiar face in the hallway and it is the fallen prince to her princess Jason Scott. Every week he tries to speak to her in some way, a passing wave seems to be the way to go this week. Maybe he's finally taking the hint that she doesn't want to talk to him and will leave her alone. She doubts it, but she can only hope. 

This is her fifth week out of her three month stint in detention and she has it down. Well at least she thinks she does. There are these sort of unspoken rules in detention that should be followed if you want to make it out without adding more time to your sentence. It's kinda like prison, if prison was anything like Orange is the new black. Rule number one is simple. Don't piss off the Warden aka Mr. Richards. If you make him do anything that isn't watching his shows on the laptop he brings in, that is a guaranteed extra Saturday.

She would know, she saw Danny the Dumbass get an extra two weeks in the first two weeks her own sentence alone. He was only supposed to have one day three weeks ago and is now going on one month. She keeps fairly to herself these days, she doesn't have anyone to talk to anyway so she might as well, but she's still quite infamous around the school. Being one of the twenty people of color at this school, one of five in detention and the only Indian girl in the whole school, she has a spotlight on her 24/7. She doesn't mind it, in fact she reveled in it when she was on the rise to popularity, but now the light is too bright and she feels blind. Every time Richards looks up its directly to her, or Billy Cranston, and then around the rest of the room. She's never hated her spotlight, she just wishes it would dim sometimes. 

The only other official rule is that you only get two bathroom trips in the four hour session unless it's an emergency. Girl world has made her an excellent liar. Read: popular straight white girl world. She doesn't remember the last time she told the truth, not counting therapy, so it's easy to lie about a phone call or "woman issues" to get out of the room. Sometimes she doesn't even need to leave the room for any reason, she just needs a moment to breathe. Like right about now. She can feel Jason Scott's eyes on the back of her head and it's making her itch. He's probably curious about why she did what she what did to end up here.

Unlike her, the news of what he did ended up all over the town and not just the whole school. "Small town football star has brush with the law after prank gone wrong!" That headline was on every newspaper in the city. Small town high school football is a big deal and Jason himself was a big deal because of it. He single-handed ruined his chances at a scholarship out of this horrible town, and the team's chances at a championship trophy this year. Kim knows she's lucky because if Amanda's father got what he wanted to she would have been charged with possession and spreading of child pornography and sent off to jail. Amanda had a much worse punishment for her, humiliation and total isolation from the people she once called friends. She thanks god that Amanda doesn't live in the real world where her actions warranted serious consequences that could ruin her whole life.

As if Kim summoned her with her thoughts Amanda texts her to meet her in the bathroom to talk. She shouldn't let herself get hopeful, but she just can't help it. Maybe she has finally payed her penance and is being brought back into the fold. She can't say she missed them, but mindless chatter is better than silence and the music on her phone. She almost runs out the room to the bathroom next to the locker room, the bathroom the other girls on the squad would use to smoke cigarettes before or after practice. (Kim never smoked she just kept watch for the ones who did.) Kim gets there and smiles at Amanda and Rebecca blissfully unaware of what her former friends have in mind for their discussion. 

Everything happens in slow motion for Kim. She watches them cut the picture of them at summer cheer camp and stab it into the crappy drywall with a smirk before leaving, bumping both of her shoulders as they split in front of her to leave. She feels the tears well up in her eyes as she looks in the mirror, and then she feels the itch. That same itch that came over her the night she sent the picture. That same itch that made her knock Ty's tooth out in the middle of the hallway. And that itch that that put her on the roof ready to end her life. The itch that makes her want to do something drastically different than what she normally does. In the back of her mind she wonders if she has a problem with expressing her emotions, but that is something to bring up with her therapist next Saturday not thought about right now.

Impulse. That feeling that makes you want to do something crazy to shake things a bit. She gives into it more than most people do and she can admit to that. She never does anything crazy like drugs, or anything, but giving into her impulses feels good. She's been controlled all her life by the image she made to fit in and she's just tired of it all. She yanks the scissors out of the wall, grabbing the picture with her other hand, and acts before she can think. When she looks back up she has a good portion her hair in her hand. She just stares at it, as if it isn't her hair, looking back and forth between it and the rest on her head. She didn't cut evenly, there are a few long strands sticking out, but it doesn't actually look that bad. The shorter side frames her face well and she looks more like herself then she has in years. She takes the hair tie off her wrist and ties it around the rest of her hair so she can get all of it with her next cut. 

By the time Kim is done she has a hair tie full of her old life that she's leaving behind and she feels lighter. She feels like a new person and most importantly she feels like herself. She makes sure to tie the cut off hair up tightly and then puts it in her bag. When she gets back to the room she can look up charities that take hair donations and she can send her ponytail in. She hasn't felt this good since she got her black belt in Taekwondo when she was thirteen. She feels like the badass that she is and Kim walks back into detention with her head held high and an air of indifferent about her like she didn't just cut her hair with tears in her eyes in the bathroom. All eyes are on her as she walks and the looks are just the way she likes them. Like she is the best thing they've seen all day.

 "Hello Kimberly I like your hair"

 "Thank you Billy."

 Kim spares a smile for Billy Cranston and then sits down a few seats away from him. The only downside of her newly shortened locks is that she can't hide her headphones as easily as before. She makes a mental note to get a pair of Bluetooth, ones that wrap around her neck, when she sees Danny the Dumbass move for the corner of the room. She turns her head hoping he'll leave her alone, but he walks right past her and goes straight for Billy. She frowns but it's not unlike Danny to go after someone who has done nothing to him, and especially someone who wants nothing to do with him. She watches in horror as he messes with Billy's pencils and goes so far as to pick one up and starts to break it. 

The whole room is silent as Danny taunts Billy and Billy sits there not doing anything, or knowing how, to stop him. It looks like he'll actually do it and the only consequence for him will just be another detention session, but Jason Scott comes in as the knight in shining knee brace at the last second. He hands Billy his pencil and then handles Danny. Danny swings first and misses Jason completely and then Jason swings. He slaps Danny hard enough to spin him around in a full circle. Richards intervenes after that and then everything is boring again. Before she knows it they're being released for the day back out into the real world. 

Part of her punishment from her parents is that she was not allowed to use her car on the weekends she doesn't have therapy, so when she walks out of the school at noon her parents are waiting for her with the truck. She doesn't even get off the steps of the school before she hears her father yelling at her in Hindi about her hair. Her mother doesn't say a word, but she does get a text about going to the salon later to get the frayed bits she might have missed. Kim texts back about the charity she found to give her hair to and puts her headphones back in in hopes to drown out her father's yelling. She looks out the window and sees Jason and Billy talking on the school steps and smiles. Maybe she'll make a friend soon. She wonders who will be her friends after what has happened or if anyone will trust her enough to get close like that again. She hopes so because she doesn't want to spend the next two years alone because of a bad impulsive decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter things go boom and Trini speaks!


	4. Trains Can Kiss My Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini tries talking to people. It goes as well as expected especially around the pretty girl that you had to stop from jumping off the roof of the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready for things to go boom? Kinda skipping the Kim/Jason stuff because it's during the same time this chapter takes place and this is a Trini chapter. I'll bring it up later tho don't worry.

Sunset. The moments between morning and nightfall. The moment most basic people think the sky is the most beautiful and romantic. Trini is more partial to nighttime herself something about looking at all those stars, makes her feel like everything will okay. Looking at the stars makes her feel like no matter what happens in her life things will be okay as long as the stars are still in the sky. The stars are what make her feel okay when her father says the family has to move again because he was reassigned to a different base for work. She learns over time to not get too comfortable in one place for long because eventually they'll have to move. She doesn't make friends because goodbyes are hard and she could be uprooted at anytime. But the stars are always the same no matter where you go and that makes Trini feel safe.

Trini is at the mine, again, because her mother asked her a question about making friends. Again. It's a little later then she's normally there, around sunrise, but who wakes up before noon on a Saturday if you don't have to? There isn't much to do in the quiet fishing and mining town of Angel Grove, Maine. This town kind of reminds her of Springfield, from the Simpsons not the capital of Illinois, there's one of everything. One mall, one movie theater, one "nice restaurant", and almost one of at least every kind of white person. You can't go anywhere, read: she can't, without someone trying to talk to her with their broken Spanish thinking she doesn't speak English. It's a little more surprising that they would speak Spanish and she wouldn't, but you can learn anything on the Internet these days. 

She hates those people. The ones that assume shit about people because of their ethnic background and then claim they aren't racist because they watch Jane the Virgin and Empire. Whenever she comes across a person like that she throws them for a loop. If they assume she speaks Spanish, then Trini will speak Mandarin. They think she's ghetto, she'll act properly like she learned in the years of etiquette classes her mother made her take. The ones who assume that she can't speak Spanish are fun because she gets to curse someone out under the guise of saying something else. She is a little shit, but assuming makes an ass out of you not me. At least that's what her Abuela always said.

What was she talking about? Oh yeah sunset at the mine! So Zack is also at the mine, on top of his train car eating some chips she left for him. She sometimes brings him the healthy snacks her and her brothers don't like that her mom buys. She knows that the Taylors don't have much and Trini's family has so much so why not help out a friend. He never brings it up, but he always leave his trash by her bag so she can take it with her. He's probably watching her with that permanent smirk, the one that fools people into thinking he's okay with his situation, and making jokes to himself. Under all his bravado he is truly scared for his mom, just like she's afraid for herself and her brothers. She knows she gets treated differently by her parents, her mother, and she knows exactly why.

Trini lives in a traditional suburban family, only they're Latinix. Mom's a doctor, nurse, and dad was in the army. There's three kids and if her mom wasn't allergic they would have the perfect golden retriever in the family photo. They have plenty of those photos where everyone's fake smiling and there's an American flag to match her father's dress blues and it's all too perfect. She hates it all. The only thing not fake is the love she has for her brothers they are truly adorable, and her father does try. He bought her the Bluetooth headphones she's wearing right now and buys her gift cards on holidays so she can get her own gifts. But then there's her mother. 

Juanita, June for her white coworkers, daughter of immigrant Mexicans is obsessed with the "American dream". And that meant she did everything in her power to secure it. Married right out of college, to a solider boy no less, was a stay at home mom for her daughter, had two more kids, and then became a nurse. She would have had her perfect dream if it wasn't for her daughter and that is where the problem lies. Trini is so far out of the realm of her mother's idea of perfect that her mother thinks she does it on purpose to piss her off. Trini doesn't believe perfection exists, it's physically impossible to be perfect and that is where they butt heads. June just wanted the perfect romantic comedy style daughter that she can be proud of and Trini has to remind her that for that to happen she would need to be a pretty blonde straight girl. 

Now Trini doesn't believe striving for perfection is a bad thing when it comes to goals, but not when it comes to people. Trying to be perfect for her mother left her in a dark place that she was way too young to find a way out of. If it wasn't for her aunt Trini, alerting her father that she wasn't being herself before she got in the pill cabinet, she wouldn't be here. Her mother still doesn't believe it's her fault that she's this way, even after the diagnosis from multiple therapists that she helped pay for. Her mother just refuses to believe that she's done anything wrong with the way she raised her and that is why she worries about her brothers. Trini knows her mother won't be as bad with them because they're boys and Trini is a girl. Sexism in society aside she knows that her brothers will grow up without the mental health problems that Trini has for two reasons. One her father is home more often now that he's in construction and retired from the army, and two she is there to help them whenever they need her. As an older sibling she feels responsible for them like she is their mother and she always makes sure they're okay.

The sun starts to disappear and Trini starts to gather her things to head home. She's halfway down the hill when she feels the ground shake below her. The mine is all but abandoned at this time so she wonder what could be going on. She hears something that sounds like the remnant of a giant explosion and yelling and runs to check it out. She gets there after Zack and sees Billy Cranston and Jason Scott, but that's not what makes her pause before speaking. Farther away from the yelling is Kimberly Hart with a leather jacket and a new haircut. She's making sure Billy is okay and checking her phone, probably to turn on the flashlight. She hears what Zack is yelling about and she can't help but agree with him that the explosion is going to bring attention to the five of them so she decides to make herself known to the yelling teens below her.

"Hey! You guys looking to get busted or something? This place is a restricted area!"

It's too dark for her to see any of their faces from where she's standing on the ledge, but she knows Kimberly isn't looking at her. In fact she's looking everywhere but her because she can feel only three sets of eyes on her.

"Oh really Einstein, restricted? As in we shouldn't be standing on crazy rocks doing karate kids moves right? Yeah I see you."

She rolls her eyes at Zack with an amused chuckle. Of course Zack is pretending that he doesn't know her. Well two can play at that game.

"Yeah or how about camping out on old trains I see you too homeboy."

Trini hears the rumble before anything happens, living in California Trini knows what an earthquake feels like, and that's when she remember what aftershocks are. The ground slips away from under her feet and Trini goes down with it cutting off the rest of her sarcastic statement about mine security. She sits up luckily still able to do that and grabs at her head, which is protected by her trusty dirty gold beanie. She looks up at the person closest, which happens to be Kimberly who was far enough away to not be hurt, and she takes the other girls help in standing. She is still avoiding eye contact with her but right now Trini is busy trying to make sure her body still works.

"Ay güey eso me dolio."

Trini is pretty sure that Kimberly can't understand what she just said, but the smirk on her face tells her that she has an idea. She thought she said it low enough to where the other girl couldn't hear her.

"Are you okay?"

She looks back to Jason who is closest to Zack and coughs before answering him.

"Yeah yeah I'm okay."

Trini starts to check her bag to see if any of her possessions are broken and sighs in relief when everything seems to be in one piece. She pulls out her water bottle and takes a big swig to rinse her mouth out of any mud or dirt and then puts it back. She hears the conversation around her and she looks up to see the giant wall of strange looking glass before her. Trini hears Billy and the others speaking but the glass in front of her has all of her attention. She tentatively reaches out to touch the glass and it is surprisingly warm for being underground for who knows how many years.

"It's warm."

"Oh my god."

She follows the light from Kimberly's phone across the glass and her eyes find something strange just inside the glass. A circular object that seems to glow in the light. The others seem to have noticed too because she can hear their curious remarks about them as well. The yellow one seems to call out to her, shining brighter than the other coins only for her. She hears Zack before she sees him, attacking the glass wall with a pickax that was in Billy's tools. They all yell out to him trying to get him to stop but it doesn't work. The first one he gets out is the pink one and that one gets handed to Kim and she gets the yellow one. She holds it in her hands as if it is the most precious thing in the world before putting it in her pocket for safe keeping. She knows they'll have to get out of here soon. Trini has surprisingly good ears for someone who listens to heavy metal on full blast. The mine security are coming and they'll only have a few seconds on them if they want to make it out without being caught and leave right now. Soon enough the others hear it and everyone scatters, not without a sarcastic comment to leave them with though. Somehow Kimberly Hart ends up with her in all the chaos as they run from the security guards. Kimberly gets in front, saying things like she knows a shortcut and pointing in directions they should go in and Trini lets her. She doesn't know her way around and she would probably get them caught then away from the guards safely. They are matching each other stride for stride and Trini briefly wonders if she should try out for the track team in the spring when she sees a van coming up beside them. She sees Jason through the open side door of the van and sighs in relief internally. Kimberly gets pulled in first and them she is yanked in with a shout before the door is closed.

"I'm in!"

They all breathe a sigh of relief and then the shoe drops in the form of Billy asking about Zack. If Zack were to get caught he would be sent to jail for trespassing because he's eighteen already. That type of stress would not be good for his mother and he would probably worry himself to death thinking about his mother and who would take care of her while he was gone. In the heat of the moment she forgets about Zack and starts yelling at Billy, along with Kimberly and Jason, to just keep driving. They make it out of the mine and Trini stupidly looks out the window to see if they're being followed anymore. She sees much worse.

"Guys. Guys there's a train."

In the midst of worrying about the train they are distracted by something falling on top of the fan. It's Zack and Jason pulls him like he did Kim and Trini and she sighs in slight relief. They still have the train to worry about and that is the biggest problem. Trini climbs into the front seat so she can keep track of the train while Billy drives. Jason points out the railroad crossing and Billy floors it after Jason's words of encouragement. 

"Oh I hope he has it."

Trini closes her eyes and sends a quick prayer to whoever will listen and grabs the rosary she's wearing around her neck. She doesn't pray enough, but if she gets out of this she'll be first up to go to mass every Sunday morning with her mother. She hears Kimberly say he doesn't have it and she holds onto a tiny sliver of hope that he does, even as the train connects with the side of the van sending them spiraling off the mountain to their deaths.


	5. Not Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the big boom. Part one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kim stop thinking about girls in beanies that's gay.(Writing Kim is hard man.)

Death is surprisingly painless, it just feels like a really long sleep. Hell it even feels like she's in her bed at home. Something feels off though and she can't quite put her finger on it. If she's dead why can she hear her iPhone alarm like just another day of school. Even if she were alive it would be Sunday not Monday, because the last thing she remembers was being at the mine on Saturday. Kimberly doesn't want to open her eyes. Because if she is somehow still alive after being in a car crash with a train, without a seatbelt on no less, she's going to have a million questions. She doesn't move an inch from her spot, laying as immobile as she can. Her chest is the only thing moving, rising up and down gently with her breathing pattern. She's dead she has to be dead she can't be still alive she doesn't want to be. She doesn't want disappoint her parents anymore, she doesn't want to go to school and deal with the judgmental populous of Angel Grove High, and she just doesn't want to hurt anymore. Her therapist is supposed to be helping her get rid of these feelings of self doubt and self hatred but now that's she's dead it doesn't matter what she thinks about herself. 

Deep down Kimberly knows she's alive, and she figures that out when her mother walks into her room to wake her up for school. She opens her eyes when she hears her mother speak in gentle Hindi, and she replies in kind before her brain can catch up with her. She knows she can't be dead now, because her parents wouldn't be there with her. Kimberly sits up and takes in her surroundings. Her room is still the same as when she left Saturday afternoon to go to the mine. Her body seems to be the same as it was before too, except for a bit more definition to her muscles and abs. She was wearing what she traditionally wore to bed, a black Calvin Klein sports bra and sweatpants, and she starts to wonder if it was all a dream. Kimberly reaches for phone and does a double take at the giant glowing pink coin next to her rose gold iPhone. So the crash on Saturday wasn't a dream that actually happened. Kim picks up the glowing rock and it's warm. It's as if it's been activated because the last time she had it in her hand it was still cold from the glass it was encased in. It feels as warm as the rest of her skin almost as if it was apart of her body. Her phone goes off in her other hand and the noise shocks her so much that she clenches her fist and breaks her phone. She squeezed so hard that the glass pops out of the phone and comes out towards her face. She looks back and forth between her phone and the coin and makes an executive decision.

She just broke her phone without even trying. She had to get to school and find the others. She has to see what is going on and if the others are going through the same thing she is. She gets ready as carefully as she can, dressing in her favorite tank top and jacket, and goes through the motions of eating breakfast with her parents. They talk about how she slept all through Sunday and didn't even hear her come home Saturday night. She had to quickly make up some excuses but we all know how excellent a liar Kim is so she gets out of it easy. She easily mentions that her phone fell out of her pocket and she had accidentally kicked it off the mountain without realizing. They don't even pay attention to what she says just that she'll have a new one in her room by the time she gets home from practice. They don't know that she has been kicked off the team and she doesn't go to correct them, she's supposed to turn in her uniform today, so she figured they still thought that. With as little of her newfound strength as possible Kim leaves and drives to school. She's going through the motions and feels a sudden urge to go to Krispy Kreme. She already ate but a coffee couldn't hurt, plus she's still early so why not. 

She grabs a few donuts for lunch, so she doesn't have to eat the school food, and then she's on her way. Kimberly looks all over for the other kids that were in the van, but she doesn't see any of them in the halls. If they were anything like her they wouldn't be at school either unless they wanted figure this out just as much as she did. She'll find them at lunch because she knows they're all in the same year. Kimberly goes through the motions of classes, you can't really blame her for being distracted, and then it's lunch time.The coin, safety zipped up in her jacket pocket, starts to shake vibrating almost and Kim figures out that that means the others are close. Jason finds her first and tells her to find Billy and meet him in the lunch line. Her coin stops vibrating when she's far enough away from Jason but starts up again which means she's close to either Billy or the other girl. Kimberly isn't dumb, despite the cheerleader stereotype, she knew exactly who that was. That was the girl that stopped her from jumping off the roof running next to her last night. She may not know her name but she knows they share a class together and that she technically saved her life. Kim wonders if she remembers her and what happened. She didn't look like she did, but then again they had other pressing matters at hand that didn't leave much time for talking.

She finds Billy easily enough surrounded by what looks like the entire nerd kingdom of Angel Grove High. He's telling a story about how he beat up Danny the red head wonder and it clicks into place what might have happened. Danny must have tried to hurt Billy, but with his new powers, he probably failed and it must have made Billy instantly look cool for the day. She knows Danny will come back after Billy in a few days when the humiliation of today dies down, but she smiles at Billy surrounded by people that think he's cool. Kim listens to him ramble for a few more moments and then grabs his attention. The whole table looks at them while they talk so she doesn't say much of anything. He smiles sensing that this is probably about the coins so he follows her to where Jason is waiting. As they walk she looks around for the others, mainly the other girl not Zack, and when Kim doesn't see them she frowns. 

"Are you looking for the other two?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I don't think they're here. In fact I've never seen Zack at school at all. I think I've seen the other girl around though. Didi I think her name is. She keeps to herself, but I'm pretty sure she's in honors literature with me."

Kim smiles at Billy's rambling and starts to think about the girl in the beanie. She's not sure if her name is Didi, maybe something with a T, or not but the idea of knowing even something about the other mysterious girl makes her eager to learn more. Her coin vibrates again and now she's face to face with Jason again. They talk for a minute and it seems that they all have somehow survived something that could have killed them and they have super strength. Jason says something about being strong enough to not need his knee brace and she pulls out her broken phone to tell her story for her. Billy pulls his coin, bright blue glow and all, out of his back pocket and holds it in his palm before Jason and her do the same and place them on the counter. They start to vibrate and sizzle, getting hot enough to melt the counter. They're all too shocked to do anything but watch in horror as the bottles of juice and pudding cups explode on top of Rebecca and Amanda at the end of the line. They all quickly snatch the coins back up and walk away like that didn't just happen. Billy and Kim walk away together and she can't help but laugh as they walk away.

"Now they know what it feels like to get food dumped on them. I've seen them waste perfectly good pudding cups and Gatorades pouring them on people, myself included."

"I'm sorry they did that to you. I know it's not the same as them apologizing but you have to know I mean it."

"You were never one of the bullies, you were barely able to hold your spot like a minority hire at a big company, I understand you just wanted to keep the peace while not losing your spot. I've seen you take care of "the others" when you're friends weren't around. You're a good person Kimberly."

 "...I know you don't like being touched, but can I hug you?"

Billy smiles and nods and we hug quickly and separate before he gets uncomfortable. He claps three times in quick succession and then walks back to his food to finish lunch. Lunch is over before Kim knows it and she's going through the motions of paying attention to class again. She keeps thinking about the other girl. Her mind is all over the place actually but her mind keeps going back to the girl at the quarry. Who is she? Does she know who she is? Does she remember the roof? All these thoughts keeps running through her mind in a constant loop and she's getting a bit dizzy to be honest. Before she knows it school is over and she's sitting in her car eating the Krispy Kreme she was supposed to eat during lunch. They didn't say if they were going to go to the mine together but she knows that Billy and Jason don't have a car and they drove last time. Her coin, still zipped up in her pocket, starts to vibrate and Kim instantly starts to look around her. She sees Billy and Jason walking in the parking lot towards her car. She finishes off her donuts and unlocks her doors so they can get in. She doesn't even start the car until they have seatbelts on, her cheerleader friends were notorious for not wearing seatbelts, but she doesn't have to wait long. As she drives Billy and Jason start discussing where they should start looking for clues for what the hell is going on with them. Billy thinks they should start with where they got the coins and Jason agrees and Kim is nodding along as she drives. 

The car ride is mostly silent as she makes the familiar drive to the mine. Billy and Jason are the main ones talking while Kim stays silent even when they're out and walking around. They find the spot, Billy does, and her coin vibrates in her pocket for the third time today. Kim starts to question when she started mentally calling it "her coin" but is interrupted by grunts or frustration. It appears that Zack had the same idea they had and came back to look for clues too. He's going to town on the wall of glass with the pickax he got the coins out with last night. His coin must have alerted him of our presence because he suddenly stops and starts to look around until he spots us. He drops the pickax and falls tiredly on a nearby rock. I pull out the bottle of water I bought at lunch and toss it to him. He catches it without looking and downs the whole thing. It may be a warm half empty bottle, but water is water.

"Thanks. I needed that."

"How long you been out here Zack?"

"Been going at that thing since I got off work. Almost two hours now maybe?"

"Did you see the other girl? The one from last night?"

"Who Trini? Nah I haven't seen her. Knowing her she probably saw me at her regular spot and ran the other way. Girl's crazy good at avoiding people and being quiet."

Her name is Trini. Know Kimberly knows exactly who she is. They have honors Biology together and she always ends up working on the class group assignments and projects by herself because she asks to. She always sits in the back of the class and Kimberly has sometimes caught her looking at her when she would look towards the back windows where the other girl sat. The two boys continue talking, but then Kim remembers something Zack said.

"Wait Zack you said "her spot"?"

"Yeah she comes up here all the time to meditate and shit. What you thinking?"

"That humans are creatures of habit. Think you can take us over there? I can bet that if she's not at her spot she's somewhere close by."

The boys all nod and Zack stands grabbing his jacket and slinging over his shoulders with a smile.

"I know exactly where it is. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you wanted to leave a comment and tell me how I'm doing that would be great. How does one get into this fandom anyway?


	6. Jumping Off a Cliff is Easy(Talking Is Hard)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini, a bit of Zack, and emotional blackmail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean I do say it in the chapter, but the italics between Zack and Trini is supposed to be Mandarin. Taking a really big departure from the film here. Hope you enjoy.

Trini shouldn't be here right now. She knows that the others are gonna pop up sooner or later to look for clues like she did. Hiding from four people is a lot harder than just hiding from one. She had thought she had gotten up here late enough that Zack would already be at work but she she was off about twenty minutes or so. She knows Zack's schedule by heart because she helped him get the job he has today and drives him around sometimes. She figured out that the coin, her's is in her back pocket, vibrates whenever she's in the same area of someone else with a coin on them. She figured that out when her coin vibrated as she was getting dressed. Billy lives in the same neighborhood as her and he walks past her house everyday on the way to school. When it happened again when she ran into Zack and she quickly ran in the other direction in hopes to avoid a conversation with him.

It's not that she doesn't want to know what happened to them, she wouldn't be skipping school to look for clues if she didn't. She just wants to avoid the inevitable conversations that come with being around other people for too long. She doesn't want anyone to know who she is, mainly because she's gone this long being a nobody why try to change that now? She didn't always feel this way but her mother and moving around so much made her jaded towards people. 

That's why she likes Zack so much. They're one in the same in the sense that they hate people and would rather talk to the trees and rocks than other people. The only difference between Trini and Zack is that he still has his person and hers was taken away from her. Her Aunt Trini was the only person that Trinity Crystal felt like she could go to to talk and not expect something from them. Young Trini could talk to her aunt and expect nothing from her but a gentle smile and understanding in her eyes. That's the complete opposite of what she gets from her mother and half of what she gets from her father. Her mother's eyes are filled with judgment and her smile is fake and bookended with frown lines and sayings of disappointment ready to fire at her perfect target. Her daughter.

She lost her person and she knows Zack is a ticking time bomb that will explode when he loses his mother to her sickness. The two of them are kindred spirits and that's what makes hiding from him so hard. They know each other well. He knows her well enough to know her hiding spots which mean he's gonna find her the longer she stays out here. She knows she needs to just leave and go home, but is just two problems with that. One, her mother is there, and two she doesn't really want to keep running. 

Trini has been running from everything that comes her way. Her parents, her emotions, and even her sexuality. She is exhausted and just doesn't want to run away again. She doesn't want to run from Zack and the others not this time. She doesn't want to hide from them but she's afraid. Unfortunately all she knows how to do is run from the scary things in her life, so when her coin vibrates in her back pocket she instantly tenses and looks around. She can hear them coming around the turn that leads to the clearing she's standing in. She thinks quickly and slows to a walk so it looks like she's not running from them but just happened to be at that spot when they got there.

Zack is in front of the pack, but Kimberly is not far behind him with Billy and Jason just behind them. She doesn't want to run and Trini can tell Zack knows that with the way he's coming towards her, clearly remembering what happened when they first met and how she ran and almost didn't come back. He's being cautious because getting close to her is like trying to pet a tiger while it's sleeping. No sudden movements or loud noises or she'll run and you'll never see her again. She watches them as they finally all come into view and Zack takes lead addressing her. 

 _"Trini, it's Zack._ _Kimberly, Billy, and Jason are here too. I know you don't like it but we need to talk."_

He's speaking in Mandarin. Letting her know it's okay to speak freely with him because the others won't understand them anyway. She turns away from them, looking out towards the mountain and what is probably a gorge on the other side. She's never been on this side of the mine before and it's putting her on edge, bringing back her old fear of heights she had as a kid.

_"Trini I know you're scared, so are we. You can talk to us. You can talk to me."_

" _You don't know what I am Zack."_  

_"No I don't, but I could if you just talk to me. Please Trini, aren't you tired of running?"_

_"The last time I was around you four I almost died. Twice. Excuse me for not wanting to give fate a third try."_

_"Trini please, I get that you're scared. I am too, but you don't have to be scared alone._

_"I've been doing pretty good alone for seventeen years. Why would I ruin my track record now?"_

_"But you don't have to run from me, from us. We don't want anything from you."_

_"Everyone wants something Zack, but fine if they want to talk let them speak for themselves."_

She turns around and watches Zack basically tell them the last thing she just said and that she's willing to talk to them. He moves to the side and Billy steps forward to speak to her. Her glare softens at the sight of Billy, a sweet boy she could surely love in the romantic sense if she was straight, and waits for him to speak. 

"Hi Trini right? I know Zack said your name enough times, but the teacher in lit always says Didi so I thought I would ask first. Anyway I know this is weird, especially since most of us didn't know each other let alone talk to each other before today, but I talk enough for the both of us so if you don't want to talk I will. You look like a good listener, just like my dad used to be. And you don't interrupt me, which most people do, so yeah even if you don't want to find out what's going on with us I'll tell you for as long as you want to listen."

When he's done he stares at her for a second before he nods and steps back next to where Zack is still standing. Jason steps up next a slight limp to his step and she notes his knee brace is gone. He probably went the whole day without it, but walking up the hill to find her probably aggravated his injury. He follows her line of sight, which is to his injured knee, and chuckles before speaking. 

"My knee is fine I have the brace in the car. It doesn't hurt, but with all the walking I did today I guess the muscle is just tired. Look Trini I know you probably don't like people like me. Guys that look like me write horrible stuff on your locker and dump food on your head when you take a chance on the lunchroom before ignoring it all together. I don't want to be that guy that peaks in high school. I don't want to be that guy that lives in his letterman at local bars and I know you don't want to just be a face in the background at least not anymore and I think we can help each other do that if you want. I think we could be good for each other." 

She stares at Jason through his entire speech and he's right. She hates guys like him, but not for the reason he's thinking. Jason is the kind of boy her mother would gush over and she hates him. She hates his almost perfect bone structure and his stupidly pretty blue eyes surrounded by long eyelashes. She hates him and wants to punch him in his stupid perfect boy next door face, but he's also smart enough to know that if she did swing he would just let her do because he knows she would need it.

Jason moves back and then it's only Kimberly Hart left to speak and Trini's fight or flight instincts kick in. She's stayed here way too long and she needs to move because the one thing she doesn't want most is to talk to Kimberly Hart. She takes off with the super speed she found out she had this morning and takes off towards the mountain side. 

"Trini!" 

She ignores Zack's calls for her to stop and keeps running and even starts climbing up the mountain to get away from them. She knows they're following her, if they spent that much time trying to make her stay of course they would, plus crazy good ears remember? She doesn't look back she just keeps running, that is until she can't anymore. She was right about there being a gorge on the other side of the mountain, but she just miss-judged the distance. 

"STOP! Don't do it. Remember you said that to me almost two months ago. Only seemed right to say it back."

Trini skids to a stop just in front of the opening of the mountain. Shit Kimberly is bringing up the roof. Of course she would that is the only other time they've talked. She hears the other guys and she hopes that means Kim will stop talking, but she just moves closer to her so the guys can't hear. 

"You know I tried to find you after that day? For weeks I looked for you to say thank you or even try to be your friend or something. I guess you didn't want to be found, but since you're here right now I'll say it. Thank you for saving my life. My therapist says it's important for my recovery that I tell you that, so here I am. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, hell I don't even want to stay here, but I had to tell you thank for what you did on the roof before I will probably never see you again."

She looks out at the other side of the gorge, no longer contemplating jumping, but just looking so she doesn't have to look at Kimberly Hart and her beauty. She sees it enough in biology class she doesn't want to look at her now. She can't look at her right now, because she would cave to whatever the beautiful Indian-American girl desires. The queen of the school who fell from grace, but held her poise as if she was still untouchable. Hell she still is untouchable in her own badass way. Trini may be a nobody compared to her, but everyone knows what happened to Kimberly Hart. She feels a hand come down on her shoulder, unaware that Kimberly got that close, and she jumps the clearing. She hears them all shout at her, but she isn't alone for long because Zack is jumping right after her. She catches him and they both fall to the ground him holding her in place by her yellow converse.

" _Let go Zack!"_

_"No way you're not running again. No more running away!"_

Trini struggles against his hold, but his hold on her foot is firm so she can't move. She looks back and sees Jason and Kimberly jumping next leaving Billy by himself. Zack stands, but is still holding her so she can't move. By now she's not going to run away, at least not until the others leave, but Zack keeps his hold firm on her arm. Billy jumps, but he doesn't make it and falls before Jason or Kimberly can help him up. She worries about him, but she doesn't want to get close to the edge. Accidents seem to happen to her around these four and if she gets close enough to the edge she'll magically fall in and break her neck somehow. She hears his yell to come down too and Jason looks at us before he jumps down into the water below. Zack's grip loosens on her arm and Trini can tell he's curious about what's down there. Ever the thrill seeker, she know he wants to jump off the cliff so she decides to give the Wild Child a little push. 

_"Go."_

_"No. If I leave you up here you'll just keep running. The only way I'm jumping is if I'm carrying you over my shoulder."_

_"No way in hell are you doing that. Just go."_

Out of the corner of her eye she see Kim swan dive off the mountain and Trini rolls her eyes and mumbles under her breath.

"Show off."

"It's our turn. You ready Crazy Girl?"

"I told you Zack there's no way I'm going down there. I'm leaving."

"Yeah...not this time T."

Trini gets far enough away from Zack, now that he's no longer holding her in a death grip, but it slips her mind that they all have superpowers now. Becaues she has to think about that now. He runs back to get her, carries Trini to the edge, and then jumps. The only thing on Trini's mind is that when they're on solid ground again, she's kicking Zack's ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah no water bottle scene for you guys maybe I'll add it in later who knows. I just love a good Zack and Trini #moment okay. Enjoy the mental image of Zack carrying Trini Bridal style off the side of a cliff until Kim's chapter.


	7. Delusions of Grandeur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Kimberly definitely thinks she hit her head on one of the rocks on the way down, because there's no way any of this is real."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets weird on spaceships man.

As Kimberly comes up for air she feels the same rush she gets from swimming her little lake. Freedom and the feeling of being carefree washes over her just like all the times she's free dived before. She hears Jason and Billy laughing and can't help but join in, the carefree feeling taking over her just like it did the boys. She looks up and frowns at even the possibility of Trini and Zack not coming down. They found all the coins together and survived a truly horrible car crash together. It should be all five of them doing this together, whatever this is that they're doing.

Kimberly has no idea how but she has this connection to the others in a way she's never had with any of her friends before. She doesn't try to understand it but all she knows is that if someone tries to hurt them Kim will slap them to the next galaxy. She already feels so much for them, and she's barely known them for longer than a few hours. She would go to the end of the earth for them, and then keep going because the end of the earth doesn't exist. 

She should have stayed on top of the cliff. It's taking way too long for Zack to get Trini to come down on her own. She has no doubt that Zack can talk to Trini, since she only really spoke to him before running off, but they're taking a really long time. Well at least she thinks they are, Kim has no idea what time it is since she broke her phone in about ten places. She should probably invest in a watch or something so she doesn't have to keep buying phones. The one on Billy's wrist looks like it's old, probably from his father or grandfather, but it seems to work and looks well taken care of.

She adds a watch to her mental list to things to buy, along with the Bluetooth headphones, when she hears screaming. Kim looks up and sees Zack and Trini falling towards the water she is slowly treading in. It looks as if he's carrying her bridal style and she has to commend the other Asian teen. It didn't seem like Trini wanted to come down here, she would have done something similar to get her to come down too. Possibly just throw her off the side, but there is no way Trini would have let her get that close to her. If anyone would have been the one to get the other girl down here it had to be Zack. She wonders what kind of relationship they have, they seem close and know things about each other which puts them to an advantage. What type of advantage? Kim isn't sure yet.

They finally land in the water together and Trini is the only one that comes up at first. After she gathers her breath Trini goes back underwater and comes back up with Zack wrapped around her. He pulls something gray out of his pocket and slaps it on Trini's head, and Kim realizes it's her beanie from earlier. It must have been pushed off her head from the water pressure and Zack grabbed it. Her eyes are still focused on the fact that the other girl is still holding Zack up. He doesn't look like he knows how to swim. That has to be the reason he didn't come up for air right away. She doesn't judge him for it, in fact she taught children how to swim over the summer Kim could teach him if he wanted her too. 

"Hey guys. Check out how we glow in the water."

Confused she looks down at the water closest to her and it is bright pink. The same pink as the coin, warm in her jacket pocket, and she has to admit this is one of the most shocking moments of today. Trini starts to laugh at something Billy says and soon enough they all start laughing. 

"Hey check it out I'm black!"

"What no you're not!"

"Yeah I am look it's a black circle around me!"

"The way you said that did not sound like that's what you meant."

 "This is so cool."

Kim can't help but smile at everyone, but she's smiling more for the moment than anything. She hasn't felt this carefree in a really long time and she know it won't last for long. There's a reason they have these powers. The only reasons people in movies get super powers is because some crazy evil is coming their way and the person, or people, with the powers have to stop it. All they need is the secret lair for their training and some one to guide them. Or maybe Kimberly should stop watching Marvel movies because they're messing with her head. 

"Hey guys I think I see something under the water. Follow me."

Billy sinks under the water, with Jason following right after like he's been doing all day. Zack and Trini whisper to each other before going under, her still holding him as they swim. She watches them for a bit making sure they're okay and then dives under herself. She swims behind Trini, so she can follow the yellow light that comes off her, and makes her way down.

Far enough down gravity seems to kick in an all of the sudden and they all fall through this water wall and into this under water cave that shouldn't exist. They hit the ground hard and Kim can't help but look back up at the water they came through. If it wasn't for the wet clothes on her body she wouldn't believe that any of that just happened. Kim sits up and rubs at her back when she sees Trini. She has a cut on her forehead and it is bleeding slightly from it. She didn't see where anyone else landed, but seeing Trini's blood has her incredibly worried.

"You okay?"

"Funny. Whenever I'm around you four I always seem to get hurt somehow. I'm fine it's not a concussion or anything so I'll live."

"You know what one of those feels like?"

"Martial arts. You hit the ground a lot. I'm tougher than I look princess."

"Hey guys check this out!"

Billy calls out to the others and Kim looks away from Trini to see what he is bringing to their attention and Holy Shit. In front of her is a big ass spaceship. Kimberly Ann Hart is in an underground cave looking at a honest to god spaceship. Kimberly definitely thinks she hit her head on one of the rocks on the way down, because there's no way any of this is real.

"Let's check it out!"

"Lets not and say we did. How about that?"

"Trini this is a once in a lifetime thing. How many people can say they were inside an alien spacecraft and talk about it?"

"I don't know Billy all those people probably died on the spaceships they were exploring!"

"I understand that, and you might be right in wanting to stay out here, but I'm going in. I'll tell you all about it when I get back. If I don't come back make up a realistic excuse for my mother."

Billy nods, to himself mostly, and turns to go in the opening in the spacecraft. He pulls a flashlight out of his pocket and somehow it still works after all that water because it shines light through the cave perfectly. The two girls watch him go in and then Jason and Zack as they follow him inside. Trini watches them disappear and then turns to her. Kim starts to wonder what she could want, but she beats her to saying the question on the tip of her tongue.

"If you go, I'll go."

"Then I guess we're going in."

"After you Pink."

"Pink?"

"You're wearing a pink shirt and the color Pink glowed around you when we were in the water. You have the pink coin don't you?"

"And you have the yellow one. The light coming off of you was bright enough to see underwater."

"I wonder what all this stuff means."

"I guess we'll find out when we go inside the alien ship."

"Then by all means after you."

The two of them make their way inside the ship and up a stair case to find the buys didn't get that far into their exploring.

"Zack said we should wait for you here. We did all of this together we're not doing this without you, it wouldn't be right."

"So should we split up and look around?"

"Have you never watched an episode Scooby-Doo? God you even look like Freedie. You never spilt up, especially when there is only one flashlight."

"Fine no splitting up and I have seen Scooby-Doo by the way. I have a little sister we watch it every Saturday. And I don't look like Freddie."

"Lie to yourself all you want but you do pretty boy. Billy lead the way you have the light."

Billy nods and starts to walk in one direction, but he doesn't get far because the stairs start to disappear on them. Trini and Zack start to go back and stop them but it's too late the stairs are gone. All the lights start to turn on and suddenly it seems like the ship is gonna take off with them inside of it. 

"Guys we have to find a way out of here, this thing feels like it's about to take off with us inside."

"Kim's right. The lights are on so we won't need the flashlight anymore. Split up and yell if you find something."

Kim doesn't even let Jason finish speaking before she runs off. There are multiple hallways to choose from that could lead to an escape and she chooses the one directly behind her. She runs, not even looking for an exit, but just to get away from the others. Kim has a plan, of sorts. She's wearing dark enough clothing, even the pink tank she has on is a dark pink, so if she finds a dark enough corner she could hide out until the coast is clear enough to leave. She knows it's a bit selfish, but if she makes it out she could go get help for the other before it's too late.

She's already tucked in the tank-top and partially zipped her jacket ready to go through with her plan, when she sees Zack and Trini. They're arguing in whispered Mandarin behind some pillars and she thinks they had the same idea as her. She quickly follows suit and hides behind a pillar farther down the never ending hallway. From where she's standing she can see both of their hiding places and if Trini wasn't wearing such a bright jacket she wouldn't have saw her with how low to the ground she was. Being short must come in handy for something Kim thinks.

For a while everything is quiet and Kim is starting to question if time is actually going by of if it really is a man-made concept to sell watches and clocks, when she hears yelling. Jason and Billy are running towards their end of the hallway at full speed. Jason is the one yelling, but Billy is in the front running away with Jason not far behind. They pass all three of them and then they finally see what is chasing them. It is a small robot, about at Trini's waist for scale, and it is jogging behind the two boys. Suddenly it stops and turns towards Trini and she jumps as she tries to get up to run away. They all watch in horror as she crawls away from it only for it to detach it's claw-like hand and grab at her foot. Trini screams and Zack jumps into action to help her.

"I'm coming Crazy Girl I got you!"

Zack tries to pull her free but it is no use. The robot just pulls them both like the added weight is nothing. Kim decides right then and there to not run and goes to stand behind Jason and as far away from that thing as possible. The robot looks like a metallic toddler with headlights for eyes, a beer belly, and a manhole cover with a bowl on top for a head. Kim tries not to look directly at it because it just looks weird, but she can't look away either.

When Trini and Zack finally get up they move as far away from it as they can, Zack moving behind her and Trini hiding behind Billy. The robot walks them into a room that comes alive as they enter. Suddenly there's a giant head that looks like pin art coming through the wall and it's telling them they're power rangers. Nothing is making sense anymore, and staring at Trini's equally confused face isn't helping make anything clearer, so she decides to speak. 

"Did you just say we're Power Rangers? We're talking to a fucking wall in a spaceship. What is my life anymore?"

The next thing she knows she's in the air having a vision of a woman in black destroying the town and being told they only have eleven days to get ready to defeat her or the world as they know it will end. The talking head, known only as Zordon according to the robot named Alpha five, tells them that the coins that led them here belonged to him and his team who lived on the ship, so therefore the ship and everything inside of it now belongs to them since they now hold the coins. To use as they wish as the new rangers.

"If this ship belongs to me because I'm a power ranger, if I wanted to leave will it let me?"

"Of course the stairs will open when you go back towards them."

Trini doesn't even have to say anything when she looks at her, she's been ready to leave since they walked in and the lights turned on by themselves.

"Lets go."

The two of them practically run out of there, and she hears another pair of footsteps behind them and a fourth by the time they get to the stairs. Like Zordon said the stairs opened for them and they're back in the pit looking back at the ship wondering if any of that was real.

"So how do you think we get out of here?"

Kim looks at Zack and then up at the water above them.

"I have no fucking idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really liked where I ended it okay? If you're not following me on tumblr you're missing out on some inside scoops for this story man you should like follow me @nayacutyonails. I made a damn tag for this story go see how my brain works. Next chapter Trini and the family and her first day at school with powers. (and first day of training woo!)


	8. So how does all of this work exactly?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini is very smart, but sometimes she's a dumbass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh slight triggers for slurs of the racist and homophobic kind. For like one second I'm sorry.

Trini wakes up on Tuesday annoyed. She's annoyed that she woke up at all in a world that has made her a freaking superhero. Sometimes she barely wants to be alive why would any worldly, or unworldly, entity make her a superhero. If she had her choice she would have died in that car crash and then her destiny would have sealed forever. Perhaps she's just annoyed that she broke her headphones when she jumped into an underground lake and now she has to buy new ones. Maybe she's just annoyed that she woke up like an hour before her alarm. Maybe she's annoyed that she's stuck with the color yellow for the rest of her life. She has no problem with the color yellow, it's just too bright for her taste. If she had her pick she would have picked Black or Blue. Yellow is considered a feminine color to her mother because it is so bright so she has plenty of it in her closet. That reminds her to look for a thrift store in town so she can sell the "mother approved clothes" she has taking up room in her closet. Maybe she should ask Zack about that later. All his clothes are thrifted, most of his money goes into taking care of his ailing mother and making sure they have a place to live at the end of the day, so he might know a place she can go.

She doesn't know if she could do what he does, go on every day knowing his mother is gonna die any day now. He lives twice as much to make up for it, reckless acts and acting crazy because he is slowly dying inside. Trini knows what that looks like. She knows because she was that way until she drastically switched to who she is now. Before she gained the combined discipline depression and martial arts could only give her, she used to be crazy like him. She ran around with her friends and did any dare that was sent her way in order to make them like her more. Every new town she was the class clown cracking jokes and interrupting the teacher, until one day she wasn't. The day after she lost her aunt she stopped talking to people day by day until she just stopped talking all together. Only speaking when spoken to and even then only short answers so as to not let people in. Letting people in means one day you'll have to say goodbye and she's really good at leaving but she's terrible at saying goodbye.

There's a knock on her door and Trini knows it's her little brothers Mateo and Marco because of how they knocked. Frantic and uneven like they always do. They rarely knock, but Trini guesses they did so to make sure she was awake since her alarm hasn't gone off yet.

"You can come in."

Two heads of curls pop into her room and she smiles before they can see her. She sits up in the bed and they climb up and join her. Mateo, who matches her complexion, sits on her left burrowing into her side with a shy smile. Marco, who could be mistaken for a little Indian boy but looks just like her abuelo, does the same on her right. For a minute they all just sit in the silence and the warmth of the morning and each other. Trini loves her little brothers with all the love in her heart, probably because she had to help raise them growing up, but she doesn't always say it. She is better with actions than with words. She helps with homework, cooks their favorites when their parents are working late, and even lets them sleep in her bed sometimes. She makes sure they're cared for when it slips her mother's mind that she has kids and not just models for photos she can manipulate. It's not that their mother is that bad, it's just that sometimes she forgets that they are just kids. (That "they" is including Trini herself.)

"We wanted you to check our homework."

"Yeah you got home later than usual and we had to ask mom but she wasn't much help."

"Do you have it with you?"

"Yeah it's on the dresser. Teo go get it."

Mateo slides out of the bed and grabs a blue folder Trini didn't see them have before before hopping back into bed and handing it to her. She ruffles his hair as he burrows under the blanket again and she chuckles before going over their work. This is a routine for them, they do their homework together and when they finish she checks it over while taking a break from her own work. Her brothers are very smart, so she never has to correct anything, but it's just the way they bond.

"Are you walking us to school today?"

"Don't I always chubbs? Why would be today be different?"

"Because you didn't yesterday."

"That's because I wasn't going to school yesterday. I'm sorry hermanos I had to help out a friend who needed me."

"That's okay Papi drove us and you're lucky it was him and not Mami."

"Yeah otherwise we would have been really mad at you."

"Mad? You two could never stay mad at me. I'm glad you got to spend time with Papi tho you never see him because he's always at work."

"Yeah he got us donuts."

"He did? Well I'm gonna have to step up my game then."

She suddenly feels them squeeze her around her middle. It doesn't feel as strong as it normally does, she chalks it up to her new Ranger strength and carefully hugs them back. She looks over at her clock and sees that it's still an hour until they have to leave and decides that they have to start getting ready right now. The walk to school takes about twenty minutes without stops so that leaves forty minutes to get ready.

"Your homework checks out. Why don't you two go get ready so we can get donuts on the way to school too?"

"Okay. Come on Polo I'll race you!"

"I'm faster than you Teo I'll beat you!"

"Whatever you do just don't break anything."

"Okay!"

The young boys run off and Trini smiles at them before hopping in the shower herself. She braids her hair wile it's still wet so they'll dry in place. She picks her clothes not even thinking about yellow yet still slipping on her gold bomber jacket anyway. She grabs her coin from under her pillow and slips it in her jacket pocket. By the time she's dressed and has her bag, her and her brothers are on their way out the door.

"Ah ah ah! Where are you three going?"

June(Juanita) is standing in the walkway between the kitchen and the door. She has her arms folded and she looks like she's ready to argue. Trini subtly moves her brothers behind her as a way to protect them. From what? With her mother anything is possible.

"Uh school. Is that not okay?"

"And skipping breakfast? Your father is going in late this week you can spend some time with him at the table since he won't be home for dinner."

Trini looks at the twins and then nods before sitting at the table. The boys sit closer to their dad leaving the head of the table for her. She sits and grabs one of the bananas from the middle of the table. She plays with it in order to ignore her mother's judgemental gaze and her questions about where she was yesterday. She ignores every question her mother has and her brothers are chuckling under their glasses of orange juice. She hears her father's voice interrupt her mother and she smiles under her hand.

"Trini just tell us one thing you did yesterday. It doesn't have to be big, but just something. That work for you?"

Sometimes she has to hand it to her dad, he really knows how to compromise. Maybe that's why Juanita(June for the white people at work) hasn't left him or started cheating. Her father Michael is a good man, he doesn't make much, but he's a hard worker who tries his best. His best quality is how much he cares about the people around him and it shows in how he speaks to his daughter. A soft yet demanding tone that tells Trini that he's not asking to ask more questions but because he's genuinely curious. The demanding tone tells Trini that she's not getting away from this table without answering this question so why not have a little fun with it. 

"Me and these four kids from town found a spaceship underground. I'm pretty sure I'm a superhero."

The following silence is exactly what Trini is expecting. Shock and confusion surrounds the table and then her mother gets up shaking her head. Her father just looks tired, so she decides to give him something he can easily fix. 

"Oh and I accidentally broke my headphones because they fell into a pond."

The hair on the back of her neck stands up and she turns to the side and soon as her mother's arm comes swinging down to the table with a pee cup from her work. 

"Pee in that cup!"

Trini glares at the urine sample cup before rising from her seat with a scowl. She makes her exit sidestepping her mother and going towards where her bag is by the wall. Her brothers silently do the same, drinking the rest of their juice and following her. She gives her father a side hug and he slips her some money in her jacket without her noticing it.

"I joined a study group for my biology class so I'll be a little late. That's where I was yesterday by the way since you wanted to know Mami. Come on guys let's go you're gonna be late if we don't leave now."

She closes the door just as she hears her mother yelling in Spanish at her father about not showing a united front in front of the children. Trini snickers and shakes her head at how predictable her mother can be. In hindsight Trini probably shouldn't have mentioned the ship and the power ranger stuff, but her mother already assumes she's always lying so hopefully it'll blow over in time. She only worries about what her brothers will believe. Trini never lies to her brothers, not even sarcasm lies or half truths, so knowing them they'll probably ignore it, or they'll make it a thing. Only time will tell with those two. As they're walking Trini feels her coin vibrate in her pocket, alerting her that someone else with a coin is nearby. She looks behind her and sees Billy in a blue hoodie coming up behind her with a smile on his face. Trini stops to think that maybe she should stop for him and they should walk together, but she doesn't because she has her brothers with her and that's just a no. Instead she just nods and him and he waves back with a much bigger smile than before. 

They walk together with some distance between them all the way to the school, he even waited for her when she dropped her brothers off for school. When they walk in the doors of the school Billy waves again and Trini smiles lightly and waves back before heading to her locker. She has a little hop to her step and actually feeling good but then she remembers she has to see her locker before opening it. If you've ever seen glee you know how the outcasts of the show were treated, Angel Grove has a special way of treating their fellow classmates. Her locker door is tagged with multiple sayings and words in different colors all of them either racist, homophobic, or just plain evil. A sample of today's art display includes "go back to Mexico you fucking spic", "kill yourself dyke", and her personal favorite "why don't you just disappear no one would even notice" all of which is misspelled. Ironically they are all written in the colors of the Mexican flag which makes her laugh to herself. She's used to seeing these words or just hearing them if ever she goes to the school lunchroom or like Walmart. She doesn't want to tell anyone in charge for two reasons. One, they'll just paint over it and the bullies will just rewrite it and add worse things. And two, she doesn't want to bring attention to herself by bringing attention to it. 

She grabs the locker door with a little too much force and bends the metal of the frame in her hand. She needs to calm down...she needs her headphones. Her headphones are her lifeline for helping keep her sanity in check around people. She takes a deep breath and calmly pulls her earbuds out of her pocket. They're a last resort but they'll play music as she walks through the halls and that's all she needs. When the music starts flowing she feels herself calm down almost instantly. The irony of listening to angry heavy metal to calm down is hilarious but she really only listens to it when she's out in public. It's loud. Loud enough to completely block out other people and that's what she wants. She doesn't listen to it all the time but it's there when she needs it. She grabs her books and makes her way to honors Literature that she shares with Billy. She only shares class with two of the rangers today but she does have gym and study hall the same as Jason on Monday and Wednesday. She makes her way to the class, her good mood completely gone and scowl permanently in place. 

Classes go by fast for Trini then lunch happens and she eats outside on the roof so she doesn't have to talk to anyone. She goes up to the roof to be alone because by the time it hits lunch her people meter has completely run out and she needs her space. She packs the fruit up to give to Zack later and makes her way back down to finish the school day. She used her powers to run up to the roof and not get caught. She might have broken the handle on the door in her rush, but no one will know it was her so she's fine. The rest of the day passes by without any problems. Kimberly doesn't even look at her as she passes her seat to her own in biology and for that she's grateful. She doesn't talk about how she needs to sit in the front of the class because not only is she short she can't see either. If she had it her way she would sit in the back unnoticed by everyone but she can't do that. She can't do that because she inherited her father's bad eyesight and her grandmother's height. 

School ends after biology and she's off to go pick her brothers up as soon as the bell rings. Once they're in the house and started on their homework, she uses her super speed to get to the cliff. She's the last to arrive and everyone stares at her as she walks up. She stuff her hands in her pockets and nods in acknowledgment to the others. Her pockets are empty aside from the bag of fruit for Zack, her coin, and her water bottle. She stands in between Kimberly and Zack and listens to Jason and Billy talk before subtly handing the food to Zack. She makes sure no is paying attention to them when she does it to not embarrass him in front of the others. He doesn't look at her when he accepts it, but he does nod in her direction before stuffing the bag in his jacket. One by one they jump into the water, Trini with her eyes closed and Zack wrapped around her shoulders. She took her contacts out before she got to the cliff because irritated eyes are not fun, and the case is in her back pocket. Her eyesight isn't that bad it's just that without her glasses and contacts everything gets fuzzy around the edges the farther away it is. The doctor called it near sighted, things close up were fine, but far away were the problem. 

When they hit the water instead of coming up for air like yesterday, they just continue swimming down to the pit. Zack is holding her around the waist so as to not get in the way of her arms as they make their way down. Why couldn't the ship be anywhere else but underwater? Trini and Zack are both at a disadvantage because she can't see underwater and he can't swim. Tomorrow she makes a plan to bring a pair of goggles for this swim because she is not doing it blind again. The fall through the water into the pit is not better the second time compared to yesterday. They all crash down to the ground with thuds echoing around the open space. Trini lands on top of Zack with his back hitting the ground and her straddling him. 

"Hi."

"Again."

He smirks up at her and she punches him in the shoulder before standing and helping him up despite her better judgment. They all go in the ship and come face to face with Alpha Five who takes them to Zordon. He speaks to them about the rules and what they have to do as Rangers. There are only three rules. No using your powers for personal reasons, no escalating a fight unless people are in trouble, and no telling people our true identity under the masks. Trini thinks about what she said to her family this morning and she might have broken at least two of those rules already. Alpha shows them around the ship pointing out important things that might be of use to them. Trini makes a note to come back to the infirmary and the armory by herself because those peaked her interest the most. The pass a few more rooms and a set of rooms that are like bedrooms and bathrooms and they come full circle back to Zordon. 

"So how does all of this work exactly?"

"Before you begin we need to scan you to get your medical information and current medical conditions. That way if you are injured during training you will have what you need to heal properly. Jason we will start with you. After that we will ask you some questions and then you can begin training however you see fit."

One by one they step onto the morph pads and wait perfectly still for thirty seconds as a scanner goes over them. Zack goes last out all of them and when they're done Alpha starts asking them questions. Things like fighting history and amount of physical activity they partake in throughout the year. Jason and Kim mention their sports and she mentions her martial arts training. Zordon askes her what fighting styles and the others look at her as she tries to remember. 

"Kung-fu, Tai chi, and Judo. I'm learning weapons fighting right now and I also practice Yoga often." 

"That could be helpful for teaching your team the right techniques in fighting. You should lead the first few days of training going over breathing techniques and anything else you see fit."

Trini nods agreeing with him, and knowing she doesn't have a choice in saying no. Alpha continues down the line to Billy and Zack asking the same questions she was asked and they mostly say nothing, but Zack mentions running track in the past. Alpha leads them out to the pit and let's us do what we want as he watches from a distance. 

"Alright Trini what do we do first?"

"Hey Alpha do you have a camera?"

"Yes I have the capabilities of what you call a camera. I can record video and take photos. What would you like me to do?"

"Nothing yet I was just wondering because it might be useful later. Everyone spread out we're going to meditate and do some yoga to practice breathing."

Trini watches their breathing slow down and the tension slowly leave their bodies before joining them. She gives them pointers and tips to help them relax as they sit in silence for twenty minutes and then transitions into some simple yoga moves for them to do. The yoga will help with balance and agility when they actually start fighting. They do yoga for the rest of the hour and then they start to leave. As they're leaving Jason pulls her aside to talk.

"I think we should do the yoga and meditation every time we come down here to train. I think it will really help."

"Well how long will we stay down here every day? I got little brothers I gotta take care of."

"Two hours after school every day except for Friday and Sunday. Just because we're heroes doesn't mean we get out of doing homework. And I got a little sister I get it. That cool?"

"Yeah that works. Meet here tomorrow after school?"

"Yeah that's fine I'll see you in class."

She watches Jason leave before leaving herself. Billy is waiting for her when she comes up for air and she nods at him as they walk home together. They don't talk, well she doesn't, and Billy makes a comment about how he never felt so relaxed then when he was meditating with them. She smiles and says that's the point of it to clear your mind and become one with  yourself and your mind. Her house is first on the block and she waves as he continues walking to his house. She goes inside and sees her brothers sitting down at the table finishing their homework. She messes with their hair as she passes and then makes a snack for them all and sits with them as they eat and she starts her own homework. She pulls out her glasses and opens her book for literature and starts reading and making notes for her class. Her father gets home first and the boys clear the table as she helps her father cook before her mother gets home. 

They eat together, the boys talking nonstop about their day. She does the dishes and her dad walks in as she's finishing up.

"How was study group?" 

"Good it was only the first meeting so we only stayed an hour. Tomorrow we start staying two hours Monday through Thursday."

"Okay I'll let your mother know. I got you some new headphones too they're in my bag."

"Thanks. I'll try not to break this pair."

"You better not or else you're paying for the next pair."

"I understand." 

"Good, now go help your brothers get ready for bed your mother won't be getting home until three."

She nods, again knowing she doesn't have a choice in saying no. Once her brothers are taken care of she takes a shower and unties her braids for bed. If it were up to her she would get this section of hair cut off so she could have an undercut, but she's already pushing it with her mother and she knows her limits. The braids were a happy compromise with herself and she likes them enough that she deems them worth having. When she turns eighteen maybe she'll get the hair cut, but for now it's only a dream she has. She changes into a sports bra and shorts for bed, as it's still warm in the seaside town in early September, and goes to sleep with a glowing power coin under her pillow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you leave comments I won't take a month to write a chapter like I did this one. Come on I need people to talk to I'm bored. Also taking a break to participate in Trimberly week so I wanted to get this up before then.


	9. Sleep Is For The Weak(And I am Very Weak)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim's day in the life. Spoiler alert it's sad and a lot lonely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello hello *echo sounds*

Kimberly goes straight into her room and sleeps after training. Training wasn't hard in any way, but she is tired from staying up until three am the night before. When she wakes up she's vaguely aware that her parents aren't home and that it's dark outside. Her parents told her that they weren't going to be home when she got there and would be gone for the next two weeks. She is supposed to call them once she sets up her new phone, which was sitting on her nightstand when she walked in. After sets up her phone she hops in the shower and dresses in clothes that don't smell like lake water and sweat.

Once Kimberly's dressed and feeling like a new person she talks to her parents. They tell her the standard, don't invite people over, they left money for food and put some in her account, and don't set the house on fire while they're gone. She almost laughs when they say don't invite anyone over. Like any one of her old friends would even answer if she called. They slip in a reminder that she has an appointment with Dr. Cranston this Saturday and that she has to go even if they aren't there to enforce it. Kimberly knows that her mother and Dr. Cranston are good friends so if she doesn't go to her session she will find out eventually. They say to call her if they need anything, like more money, otherwise not to call either one of them because of the time difference.

While she has her phone in her hand she calls out for Chinese food. No one in her house can cook and when her father said don't set the house on fire he meant that literally. The last time she tried to cook a grease fire started and they had to re-paint the kitchen. She was only trying to make chicken nuggets.

Kimberly decides to go grocery shopping before grabbing her dinner because she may get hungry in the middle of the night. She doesn't sleep much at night so that has a strong possibility of happening. She walks through the aisles of the market on autopilot, heading straight to the freezer section and grabs anything she can make in the microwave or oven quickly. She has her earbuds in her ears, but they aren't playing any music. A trick she learned from a few girls on the cheer squad for when she doesn't want to talk to anyone and doesn't want to give anyone the idea that she does. 

She skips getting ice cream today because she's not going straight home and pays for her items. She turns around and makes sure to stock up on protein bars and fruit to make sure she eats something healthy and she is done. She gets to the Chinese place Zack is standing at the counter looking bored out of his mind. She doesn't want to seem racist, but it probably is the best job for him to work at the only Chinese takeout place in this town. She may not get direct racist comments, but she knows the people here can be cruel. She was cheer captain of an all white squad she heard some of the nameless girls on the squad say shit when they thought they were safe. 

Zack speaks Chinese fluently, it's probably the only thing authentic about this place, but it's probably what got him the job. He probably speaks the language at home with his family like she does. Her mother taught her both Hindi and Gujarati when she was younger because she still has family that lives in India that don't speak English. She doesn't speak it as often as she should, only when she's angry and really passionate, but Zack seems more comfortable with his language than she is.

The door chimes when she walks in and Zack stands up straighter and smiles a bit, almost as if he's trained to present himself to customers this way. His smile dims a bit when he sees that it's her, probably because the last thing he wanted was someone he knows seeing him at work.

"Welcome to The Happy Dragon. How may I help you?"

"I called in an order for two large Lo Mein, shrimp toast, and crab ragoon about twenty minutes ago. I was hoping it was ready."

"We would have called you when it was done. Let me check for you."

Zack goes in back and she can hear him speaking in Chinese for a moment and she then she hears someone reply back also in Chinese. They speak for a few minutes before Zack comes back with a sort of sad smile on his face.

"They haven't actually started cooking your food yet. So it should be ready in twenty minutes."

"Does anyone actually do any work around here?"

"I do, but I'm the only one doing anything. Job sucks but it pays the bills."

"How did you even get the job?"

"Bilingual. That way they don't have to learn English or talk to the white people. The family that owns this place had a kid that did my job, but he left town for college."

"You're probably the only person in town that can speak Chinese and English, besides Trini. Did you teach her you seem close?"

"Nah she knew some stuff before we met, her uncle's wife was Chinese and taught her. She was just a little rusty by the time we met last year."

"So you two are dating?"

"I wish. Trini is great, but I don't think she likes me or any guy like that."

"She's gay?"

"We haven't talked about it but like I said I think she doesn't like guys. Just a suspicion and I don't want to assume anything. If she wants to tell me she will."

There's yelling in the back of the restaurant and Zack excuses himself to see what's happening. He comes back with a bag of food and places it on the counter. 

"You want a smoothie for your wait? Free of charge if you don't tell my boss."

"Sure mango is fine."

Kimberly takes out some of the cash to pay for her food and double checks her order. It took forty minutes to get the food, she doesn't wanna take home the wrong thing just to come back. 

"Two large Lo Mein. What are you having a family get together?"

"The opposite actually. My parents are on a work trip and the last time I cooked I almost set the house on fire. This should last me for a few days, or at least the rest of the week at the most."

"Okay well I hope you at least buy something healthy because carbo loading won't get you through the week."

"I went grocery shopping before I got here I should be fine. What's my total?"

Zack rings her up and she tells him to keep whatever is left of the twenty as a tip for himself. When she gets home she puts all the frozen food away and then just opens one of the noodle containers and starts eating. Kim eats about a fourth of the container while looking for something to watch on Netflix and then settles for some straight to DVD movie she's never heard of. She doesn't pay attention to it at all, it's just white noise to make her house not feel as empty as it is.

She makes sure to take her medicine, the antidepressants her therapist prescribed to her for when she's having a particularly bad day. She doesn't take them often but she does take one at least once a week to be safe. Last time she did was Saturday when she got home from detention before going to the mountains. 

Kimberly puts the food she didn't eat away and goes to her room for the night. It's about midnight right now but Kim is nowhere near ready for bed. She turns on her bedside lamp and grabs her therapy journal. Her doctor says it's best to write her feelings down towards the end of the day and that's just what she's doing. She makes sure to not mention anything about the ship or anything power ranger related, instead she makes something up about joining a new club at school.

She makes sure to note that she still has problems falling asleep and staying asleep at night, but has no problem sleeping in the day. The last thing she adds is if she had to take a pill today or not and rank her day from one out of ten. Kim tries to be as honest as possible in her nightly journal entries for her therapist, because if she can't be honest to her doctor who can she? She closes the journal with a sigh and leans back into the mattress trying to relax long enough to fall asleep.

When that inevitably doesn't work she grabs her earbuds and her homework. If she's gonna be up she's gonna get some work done. Three am and half of her assignments later Kimberly finally falls asleep reading her English assignment. Wednesday morning she just pulls on a black tank top and absentmindedly snaps a pink choker on that clashes with the all black outfit. She grabs a ziplock bag and a towel among a bunch of other things for training. She'll leave them in her old cheer bag by the door and grab them when she comes home after school.

She gets Krispy Kreme again this morning, something seems to be pulling her here everyday and she doesn't understand why. The Starbucks down the street is much busier than the KK but there is a reason for that, the coffee is much better. It doesn't really matter to her, coffee and donuts work every morning for her, she's just noting that she's been here two days in a row. She puts those thoughts in the back of her mind as she pulls into the school parking lot. 

None of the student body know what really happened between her and her former friends that caused her fall from grace. What they do know is that Ty cheated on her and Kim punched him in the middle of the hallway knocking his tooth out landing her in detention. They know the ending, but not the start or the middle. Not the part where Kim sent a nude photo of her former best friend to her cheating ex after she found out Ty slept with her. People don't know that the reason she had a photo like that of Amanda Clark on her phone in the first place is because she told her something about her sexuality and she was blackmailing her. Neither side of things were golden and pure, but one thing she has over Amanda is her guilty conscience. She does regret sending the photo to Ty, and she knows Amanda doesn't regret any of the things she has done to her. 

She glides through the halls, not with her usual grace, but she still walks like she owns this place. Her steps don't falter as she moves towards her locker, months of practiced steps she could do this walk down her personal green mile in her sleep with her eyes closed. She doesn't look up from her coffee as she opens her locker and grabs her things for her first classes. She doesn't have classes with any of the other Rangers she doesn't think today except for Billy so she smiles at that thought.

She closes the locker and her eyes catch the skull and crossbones drawn on it. The Mark of evil as the popular crowd likes to call it. The sloppily drawn skull lets all the popular kids and bullies know who a target is for ridicule. She's seen plenty of them on random lockers, never drawn them herself, but she never really stopped anyone from drawing them on the lockers either. Kim isn't surprised she has one on her locker. Amanda probably made her side piece on the football team draw it because she doesn't do any of her dirty work herself. 

She puts it in the back of her mind as she goes through her day. All of her classes she goes through the motions. Takes notes when needed, ignores the stares, and she moves to the next one and does the same. When she gets to math she smiles and waves at Billy as she passes him and he waves back before going back to his pencils. She sits in the middle of the classroom near his chair and begins to take out her notes and homework.

She's grateful none of her old friends were smart enough to get in honors classes because going to class has been her saving grace from the wondering eyes in the hallways. It’s not as bad as it was on Monday, but there are still too many people looking at her as she walks from class to class. These looks aren’t like the ones Kimberly got when she walked into detention with her new hair. These looks are judgmental and make her feel more shame than she already does. She tries to focus on just getting through her day, but it is really hard.

She sits with Jason at lunch just because she doesn’t want to eat alone. They don’t talk much, or at all, but it’s better than eating alone. She already deals with eating alone and in silence at home, and people need human contact to live. After school ends she waits in her car for Jason and Billy to go to training because she knows that Jason nor Billy have a car or ride out to the mines. In her peripheral she sees a flash of yellow zoom past, and she just knows that it’s Trini. A knock on her passenger door distracts her, it’s Billy and Jason so she unlocks the door. When she looks back Trini is gone and Kimberly wonders if she was even there at all. 

“What about Trini, did she need a ride?”

Billy looks up from his book bag to face her and smiles at the question.

”Oh Trini takes her little brothers home from school every day. She’s probably walking them home right now.”

”Jason don’t you have a little sister too why aren’t you going with Trini?”

”My mom work nights at the hospital, so she picks her up and by the time training will be over she will be going to work.”

”Okay. Good enough for me.” 

Kim stars the car and drives to her house, she parks there because she can just walk through the mines to get to the ship. 

“This is your house Kimberly?”

”Yep. You guys can come in if you want I just need to put my bag in my room and get something.”

The boys follow her her in and Kim takes her jacket off, deciding to leaving it there because leather and water aren’t friends, and grabs the old cheer bag she packed last night. She heads up to her room and takes of the tank top she wore to school for an older one and heads back to the boys who are in her kitchen. 

“There’s water and protein bars if you want to grab some for after.”

Jason heads to the fridge and pulls out three bottles and five protein bars. Kim sneaks behind him and grabs another water bottle on the off chance Zack might need one. Trini will probably have her reusable one. They all go in her bag along with a couple extra ziplock bags, in case anyone needs them, and a first aid kit.

”What are the ziplock bags for?”

”Our phones and anything else electronic. I know for a fact that Trini broke her headphones the first day we went to the ship from water damage. Speaking of which we should make sure to exchange numbers eventually in case there’s a family emergency and someone can’t make it to training.”

”Great idea I’ll bring it up before we start. By the way if your parents ask you joined a new study group and that’s why you’ve been coming home later. Trini came up with it as an excuse since we can’t really talk about the whole superhero thing.”

”Got it. Alright let’s go!"

The boys walk out first and Kimberly locks the door behind them. Training is a lot more of yoga and meditation led by Trini. Alpha shows them what Rita Repulsa's monsters will look like. He mentions that they will terrorize the town and the people so Rita can have the Zeo Crystal. They're job is to destroy the rock creatures, aptly named Putties, and stop her from getting the crystal. If the crystal is unearthed the world will be destroyed...so no pressure there.

Alpha let's Trini fight a simulated Putty, after she insisted and with his guidance, and she kicks it's ass. The thing is nothing but dust when she's done and everyone is speechless. After a long stretch of silence Billy starts to clap and Jason quickly joins him. Zack had to adjust his pants before clapping, and if Kim had one of those she would be doing that too.

"Wow remind me not to get on your bad side Trini."

"I told you I'm trained in martial arts. My hands are registered weapons in California for a reason."

"That is so hot."

If Zack wasn't next to her she wouldn't have heard him whisper that, but as soon as the words are out of his mouth Kimberly's nodding in agreement. Luckily no one notices them being a pair of horny messes because Trini has the focus of the room. Kim hands Zack a bottle of water and protein bar, but they slip from his hand and fall to the ground. They both snap out of their Trini induced trance at the sound of the bottle hitting the dirt, making Zack scramble to pick everything up before anyone else notices.

"Uh I brought protein bars for everyone and water if you guys want one."

Zack tosses them out to everyone except for Trini.

"There were only four bottles T."

"It's cool I have mine in my bag. Thanks for the protein bar Kim."

"You're welcome."

One by one they go into their own little corners to rest, or in Billy's case talk to Alpha, and Kim stays with Zack. Training is over but no one really wants to leave yet. 

"Hey Zack, you don't know how to swim do you?"

"Not really. My dad wasn't around so my mom was busy working and never had time to take me to lessons."

"If you want I can teach you one day, when we don't have training and you aren't working?"

"Yeah that would be great thanks Kim. It would be nice to not have to depend on Trini to get down here, although I'm not really complaining about it if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I saw you have to fix your pants after she pulverized that putty. Don't worry I felt the same way."

"You into girls? Never would have guessed."

"Girls and guys but not really dating right now. Breakups and all that."

"Got it You don't have to say anything else Pink."

"Hey guys huddle up real quick."

"What is he a football player?"

Kim laughs but they head over to Jason anyway to see what he had to say.

"Kim came up with a great idea to exchange numbers, and I think we should do it incase one of us has something stopping us from getting to training one day. So everyone take your phone out so we can do this."

Everyone moves at once to grab their phones, except for Zack. He looks at Trini who quickly starts speaking.

"Zack doesn’t have a phone, he broke it a while ago."

"Yeah I didn't have enough money to replace it or get it fixed, so I've been using Trini's phone for work. That's fine right?"

Kim look's at Zack and she can tell he's telling the truth and lying at the same time. He's lying about the reason he doesn't have a phone. It's not her place to ask why or question him about it but it doesn't mean she can't help him out if she can. 

They all leave together, Trini and Billy going in one direction and Jason in a different one. Kim looks at Zack standing around looking at his watch.

"Something wrong?"

"I'm gonna be late to work. By the time I shower and get dressed again I will be twenty minutes late."

"I can drive you. If you have a change of clothes you can shower at my place?"

"Really?"

"Yeah I have nothing better to do and my house is empty. Come on I live close by it's no problem."

"Thanks Kim."

Once Zack is dressed and off to work Kim eats a few pieces of fruit, and another protein bar, before going to sleep. She feels tired and probably because she didn't sleep until three am, but this is the cycle that she has put herself in. She sets an alarm for around six so she can watch her shows at seven and is asleep before she knows it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kim and Zack are horny idiots and it’s gonna be a thing. True best friend potential.


	10. Adventures in Superhero Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini gets used to being around people and being Co leader of the Rangers. Issa lot for her to handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yooooo trini and Jason are my new emotionally stunted brotp get into it. Also again anything in italics is probably another language, in this case mandarin again.

Trini sits in her math class trying to focus on the notes she’s supposed to be taking. She checks her phone and sighs. Another twenty minutes until lunch and Trini is feeling that skipped breakfast this morning. She should have taken that granola bar Billy offered her on their walk to school. It won't be a big deal she'll eat lunch and make something to eat when she takes the twins home. She wonders if they have to eat more food to use their powers like the flash does, maybe she can ask Zordon later when she's on the ship. The bell rings and Trini puts her new headphones on before going in the direction of the cafeteria. 

Her coin vibrates and Billy is suddenly by her side. He doesn't speak yet, which she would assume is hard for him, but he is smiling so she doesn't think he is upset. She continues going through her things in her bag to put them away and she can hear the pause in his breathing before he even speaks.

"You have locker decorations just like me."

Trini pauses what she's doing to turn to the blue ranger and frowns. Why would anyone want to pick on Billy?

"What does yours say?"

"Well it doesn't say it anymore since I got a new door, but it's not something I really want to repeat. Some of the words made me uncomfortable. I have a picture of it though if you want to see it? The school administration needed proof of the vandalism before doing something about it."

"If it makes you feel uncomfortable you don't have to tell me. It just sucks that someone would pick on you. You wouldn't hurt a soul."

"I've been picked on since grade school because of my autism and small town racist tendencies. I'm a junior in high school I don't care what they say anymore, I'm focusing on getting into the best school the farthest away from here. You should do the same."

"I've never lived in a town or city long enough for people to notice me let alone pick on me. It's just a new thing for me."

”Well maybe people noticing you can be a good thing. You can’t go through life alone Trini, speaking of which do you want to sit with me at lunch today? It’ll be just us?”

She looks up at Billy and smiles slightly at him. Maybe he has a point that people noticing her could be a good thing and she just doesn’t see it yet. To be fair getting attention before in her life’s only lead to drama so she’s a little skeptical about it. She does understand what he means though, humans by nature are not meant to be alone, it’s in their DNA to search for companionship. 

“Sure I’ll sit with you Billy. Do we need to head to your locker?”

”No I can just go after it’s fine.”

”Okay then let’s go.”

As always whenever the two rangers spend time together Billy spends most of the time talking with Trini listening to his every word. She adds to the conversation when she can, but she mostly watches Billy eat and talk without choking through lunch. She notices that when Billy talks he rarely talks about himself. He talks about his mother and his late father a lot and about anything else really, but never himself. She doesn’t ask, to respect his boundaries, but she does keep it in the back of her mind.

Biology is spent feeling Kim's eyes on the back of her head all class. She doesn't know why though because she never says anything to her once the bell rings. Her phone vibrates in her pocket and Trini pulls it out to see a text message from Jason.

 _ **Jason:**_ hey can you meet me by my locker 

In lieu of answering the text Trini just goes to the boy's locker to wait for him. He pops his head out of the locker when his coin vibrates probably and he smiles at her. 

"Hey Trini can you watch my little sister today?"

"We will both be at training."

"No, I mean after. My community service starts back up today and I need someone to watch her for two hours until I'm done."

"Why are you asking me?" 

"Because you have two brothers that go to school with Pearl and they're probably in the same grade. Look I wouldn't ask if I had another choice, please help just me out here."

"You don't have to beg it's not a problem just bring her by after training. I'll already be watching my brothers, what's one more?"

"Thanks just text me the address and I'll drop her off and pick her up around seven."

When Trini walks her brothers home she asks about Jason's sister Pearl and learns that they're in the same class as her. She tells them that she's friends with her older brother and that he asked her to watch her while he worked. The boys don't seem to have a problem, and she leaves them to head to training herself. Zack has a gray onesie when she sees him at the cliff. She wonders how that will work for him once they start moving around and actually training, but Zack’s life choices are his own not hers. 

“Why are you wearing that?”

”Got a second job at a car wash, it’s the uniform.”

”You got on something underneath it right?”

”Yeah I do don’t worry about it. This thing is a monster to move around in.”

”Hey Zack! You left this in my car yesterday.”

Trini and Zack turn around to see Kimberly walking up to them, well Zack, but she’s next to him so whatever. She’s holding his wallet in her hands and Zack goes to get it from her. Trini gave him that wallet, well regifted it, but it still came from her. Her brothers made her black duct tape wallets in class one day, she didn’t need two and it was made well enough that she gave the other one to Zack. She looks at Zack like he’s one of her little brothers, and treats him like one, and wants his life to be better. His father passed when he was thirteen and his mom got sick two years after. He needs family and she is hopefully helping him have good moments in his life.

Trini checks her belongings, like if her phone is secure in the ziplock bag, and that she has her goggles. Zack comes back to her side eventually and hands her his wallet. She puts it in her plastic bookbag along with her other things. Don't ask her why she has a plastic bookbag. The Chicago public school system is fucked up that's all she's going to say. Trini looks up just in time to see Kim do a completely unnecessary flip before diving into the the water above the pit.

"I bet I could do that."

"You would drown if you did that."

" _Aww Trini you care about me as a person!"_

_"Shut up and hold your breath idiot!"_

Trini drags Zack to the pit by the scruff of his neck the entire way down. Yes even through the water that way. Billy waves at her when they land, completely ignoring the way she's holding Zack. She drops him in the dirt and goes in the ship, passing Kim who is stretching on the ground. Jason is in the med bay of the ship with Alpha and is apparently going over supplies. Trini goes past them to the morphing grid, she has to ask Zordon a question about the ship.

"Zordon you there?"

Zordon's face comes through the pixilated wall as soon as she ends her question. He opens his eyes and blinks before focusing his eyes on Trini. She wonders what Zordon and Alpha Five do when they aren't training, but that's not the question Trini wants to ask right now. 

"Trini you have summoned me. Do you need something?"

"Yeah what's the deal with the ship? Did you and your team live here?"

"Yes my team and I lived here when we were rangers. There would be urgent matters in different lands that we had to travel to get to so we lived on the ship. It was easier just to live here together."

"Different lands?"

"Yes you would now call them countries and even sometimes planets. That's how the Rangers ended up here on Earth."

"So does that mean I'm no longer human? That I'm something else now?"

"A Power Ranger can be any bipedal species. The teams before yours just happened to be alien. Your team is the first human team in recorded history."

"That didn't really answer my question but okay I guess. Well I better get to training, thanks Zordon."

"I am always here if you have questions Trini."

"Thanks."

Alpha turns the simulated puttys on them today and they mostly get their asses handed to them as he yells tips from the side. The thing about Puttys is that they’re made of fucking stone. Her nice soft flesh stands no chance against it, which is probably why rangers have armor. Fighting them isn’t hard skill wise for her, they’re big and slow and she is the opposite, but fighting with her new strength does give her some trouble. Sometimes she would swing and go flying in one direction with too much force, other times she would restrain herself and not cause any damage at all. Either Friday or Sunday she needs to do some solo fight training to get control of her body again. 

She pulls her plaid button up off and uses it to wipe her sweat with it. She’s wearing a razorback tank top underneath that shows off her muscles and shoulder blades. She stretches out her arms and she guesses Zack noticed because she can hear him wolf whistle from the other side of the pit.

 _”Damn crazy girl is ripped._  Trini your muscles may be bigger than mine!” 

Kim looks over at her and then looks at Zack, almost as if to see who really does has bigger muscles. Trini shakes her head and ties her button up around her waist and has Alpha raise another putty for her to fight. Jason shakes his head at the pink and black rangers and Billy never looked up in the first place, and slowly they all get back in the groove of training again. Every once in a while she'll feel eyes on her, but she's focused on the putty in front of her and never sees who is looking at her. 

As they break Kim starts throwing around protein bars to snack on and Trini catches hers while going back towards the ship.

"Alpha can you show me where the weapons room is?"

"The armory is this way Mastor Trini I'll direct you to its location."

They pass what looks like a kitchen and a bathroom before they get there and Trini recalls what Zordon said about his team living here when they were rangers, having a kitchen and showers in a living space seems pretty universal to her. As they walk through the ship more lights come on, lighting the way to the room. 

"Here it is the armory. All the weapons are color-coded, so go for the yellow ones that you see on that wall over there."

"Why are they color coded?"

"Because they match your fighting styles. See one of Zack's weapons is a battle axe, a weapon used for strength but not a lot of technical skill."

"That does sound like Zack."

"Exactly. Whereas your weapons are more suited for skillful battle. Up close hand to hand combat like the other yellow Rangers before you. Your main weapon is a pair of matching daggers."

Trini grabs the daggers off the wall and holds them in her hands. The daggers are gold, white, and silver that will probably match the armor of her suit. She twirls them around in her hands to get the weight and feel of them then puts the daggers back. She steps back and looks at the wall of her weapons and sees that they’re all close combat weapons. She has fight training with weaponry that look like this and knows how to move with them.

She heads back to the pit and sees that Jason is already gone. In fact the only one left in the pit is Billy, waiting for her most likely. Which means Zack left for work without his wallet, again.

“Where did everyone go?”

”Kim took Zack to work and Jason left, something about watching his sister.”

”Why didn’t you leave with them? You didn’t have to wait for me.”

”I know, but we walk together everyday and routines are good for me. I didn’t want to mess that up. Plus you’re very small and I don’t want something bad to happen to you.”

”Billy I’m a literal superhero, I think I can take care of myself.”

”Yeah but we don’t know how to control our strength yet. I don’t want to turn on the news and see something about you hurting someone too much and killing them by accident.”

”When did this become a discussion of Of Mice and Men?”

”I did not like how that book portrayed mental illness.”

”Me neither. Come on we can talk more about it on the walk home.”

"Okay. Hey do you think we're more like Iron Man or Spiderman? Because I have a theory..."

Trini gets in the house and gets a shower in before Jason gets there. She’s redoing her last twist when the doorbell rings. She slides down the stairs and opens the door to Jason and Pearl and they both come in.

”Pearl this is Trini my friend from school. She's gonna watch you while I go to work. That okay?”

Pearl looks up at her and hides behind her brother being shy. Trini smiles and squats down to be eye to eye with her. She used to be shy when she was younger, now she’s just quiet there’s a difference.

”Hi Pearl Jason told me about you. It’s nice to meet you. I have some brothers about your age want to meet them?”

Pearl nods and Jason carries her into the dining room where her brothers are finishing their homework. They’re eyes light up when they see Pearl in Jason’s arms. 

“Pearl this is Mateo and Marco. They told me you have class with them. You want to sit with them while I talk to Jason?”

The younger girl nods and Jason puts her down in the chair close to Marco. The two teens go into the other room and watch their siblings interact before one of them speaks.

”She hasn’t eaten anything yet and I’m sure she has some homework to do.”

”Any allergies?”

”Peanuts.”

“Okay. Well go on then you don’t want to be late or whatever.”

Trini watches Jason speak to Pearl then head out the door. They all do homework for the first hour, Trini takes notes on her book while helping the children when they need it. It’s mostly quiet while they work except for the twins talking to each other and Pearl humming to herself. After they're all done Trini makes them all dinner, spaghetti and some garlic bread. When her parents are working late this is what her evenings look like, dinner with her brothers after homework or whatever they do before that. Once she was old enough to watch the twins her mother started working more. She isn't ungrateful she just wishes she got to still be a kid too.

Jason gets back to her house around seven thirty. She gives him the rest of the spaghetti and he eats while Pearl watches some kid TV show with her brothers.

"How are you two getting home? Because I know you have been getting rides from Kim to go to training."

"Walking. My car is no longer street legal so I'm walking or catching rides until it's fixed. Plus my license is suspended until next year too."

"Dumb decisions we make when we are young."

"Tell me about it, my dad never lets up about me wrecking the truck and ruining my chance at a football scholarship. Like I get it I ruined my life you don't have to remind me every morning."

"Please my mother lives to call me a disgrace whenever she can. I never hear the end of how I don't live up to her expectations."

"It's like they forgot what it was like to be a kid and have fun or something."

”You’re on your own with that one homeboy, I can have fun without getting arrested.”

”You know about that?”

”I’ve lived here for a year. I knew about you the whole time.”

”And you don’t hate me or anything like that?”

“Nope. You can’t hate someone you don’t know outside of their name. The people that say they hate you, don’t know you well enough to hate you. At least not the real you as far as I can tell. Don’t let it get to you.”

”Let what get to me?”

”The looks and whispers. I’m a small latina I know what it’s like to not be the norm, while you are a Nazi’s wet dream with your blonde hair and blue eyes, don't let some stares in the halls get you down. I bet you’re Dutch or German aren’t you?”

“I’m both and I also speak both Dutch and German my grandparents taught me.”

”Knew it.”

Jason laughs at Trini, the first time he’s genuinely felt light enough to feel happy in a long time. Long before the cow prank gone wrong has he ever felt this light. 

”Thanks for the advice and that laugh, I needed that. So how was Pearl? Not too much trouble right?”

”Let me guess you’re gonna need me to watch her again?”

”Yeah I do but I actually want to know if she gave you a hard time, because if she did I could ask someone else to watch her.”

”You have someone else to ask?”

 "...no, but I could if you aren't comfortable watching her after today."

"It's fine. She was quiet and my little brothers are like obsessed with her I'm sure my parents will be cool with it. My mom has been hounding me to make friends or whatever."

Right when Trini starts to speak the front door opens. Trini's father Michael walks in and freezes at the sight of his daughter with a boy in the house. He didn't think he would have to worry about boys in Trini's life, but he assumed instead of just asking his daughter. This must ultimately be his punishment for his assumption, he just thought his daughter would like people of color and not this white boy. 

"Trini you have a friend over?"

Trini knows that her father is confused. The look on his face is one she knows very well. She has never had a friend over before to his knowledge. Not only is Jason here, he has a plate of food in front of him, showing that he also ate here. She has a perfect reason for why he's here but Jason beats her to speaking.

"Hello sir I'm Jason. I'm in Trini's study group at school. I asked her to watch my little sister for me while I started my job today. She was kind enough to make me a plate of food when I got here because my parents work nights and I still have to do homework when I get home."

Michael looks at the two of them unsure, but his sons run into the dining room with a young girl that looks like Jason behind them, distracting him from his train of thought. He looks at the young girl and Jason and smiles.

"It's nice to meet you Jason. Sorry about all that, it's just that Trini is kind of a recluse and we rarely get to meet her friends."

"Its fine sir my sister and I were actually just about to get ready to leave. Pearl why don't we go get your stuff?"

Jason and Pearl leave the room, and the twins follow, leaving Trini alone with her father. Michael turns to his daughter with a raised eyebrow and a slight smile.

"Sir? He's kind of uptight isn't he?"

"He has a strict father. Is it okay if I drive them home? It's late and they walked here."

"Yeah sure, keys are in my jacket."

Trini grabs the truck keys and pulls her jacket on. By the time Jason and Pearl get to the entryway Trini has texted Billy twice to respond to something he sent her earlier. 

"Alright we're ready, Pearl had to go to the bathroom before we left.Thanks for doing this again."

"Well come on I can drive you home so you don't have to walk and carry her."

"I mean we have super strength, so I think I'll be fine, but thanks Trini."

"Whatever it's the polite thing to do."

Pearl falls asleep in the backseat almost as soon as Trini starts the car, leaving the two teens virtually alone. Jason gives her directions periodically, but it's mostly quiet while she drives. Jason and Trini actively enjoy the silence. It's not awkward or uncomfortable, neither one of them have anything to talk about so they aren't forcing any bullshit small talk to fill the silence. The radio is playing lowly, some top forties trash neither one of them would listen to if it was their first choice, but he put it on for his sister not knowing she would fall asleep.

She pulls up to Jason's house and watches them go inside before pulling off. She's stopped at a light when she happens to see Zack in the window of a store. She looks at the dashboard to check the time and it's almost ten. Zack has been working since they got out of training, and worked before that, there is no way he isn't tired. She starts to turn to check on him when she sees Kim walk into the store.

The car behind her honks signaling that the light has turned green, forcing her attention back on the road. Trini drives away wondering about what is going on with those two and why she suddenly cares about what Kim and Zack do outside of training. She goes right home and straight to bed, those two still on her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably be my last update for this story until the new year and I just want to say that I'm happy it's an even number chapter. I'll be posting other things but this is my baby so I take special care of it. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far and are in for the slow burn like I am. Happy holidays!


	11. Kindred Spirits and Therapy Homework

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rangers have a day off from training. This is how Kim spends her Friday nights and her therapy Saturdays after detention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically this starts after Trini sees Kim go into the restaurant at the end of chapter ten but whatever it's still Friday.

Kim checks her watch for the time, the second time in the last ten minutes. She doesn't want to seem like she's stalking Zack, but she kinda is stalking him in a way. The two Asian American teens are very similar. In some ways she doesn't want to discuss or think about yet, but they are. Both have loud personalities and deal with strong emotions with impulsiveness, the only difference is that Kim can afford to see a doctor if she needs to.

She knows where Zack lives. The trailer park on the other side of the mine. The view from her house on the hill sees it perfectly. The people who mostly live there are the miners who didn't have a family, and the people who don't have enough to live anywhere else. She saw him walk that way one day after the first day on the ship. She wonders which one of those two he is, or why it matters to her so much.

He looks up at the sound of bell, signaling that the door has been opened, and smiles at Kim.

”We’re closing up. If you want I can get you a container of scraps, but we stopped taking orders an hour ago.”

”It’s fine I actually didn’t come here for food, I came here for you. Want a ride home?”

Zack starts to look visibly uncomfortable at her offer of a ride. He either doesn’t want her to know where he lives or is actually homeless and squatting somewhere. Either way Zack shakes his head with a slightly uncomfortable smirk, far from his normal one trying to keep the truth away from her.

”Nah it’s fine, I got my bike with me. Thanks though.”

”You sure? I mean I know we have powers now, but that doesn’t mean you have to say no to a free ride. Plus I really don’t want to go back to my empty ass house right away. So really you’d be helping me out more than anything.”

”I don’t want you going out of your way for me, but if you want to hang we could go to the quarry. It’s not a far walk from where I live.” 

“If you’re more comfortable with that fine, I’ll be in my car. Just knock on the window when you come out.”

Kim sees right through Zack. He’s trying his hardest to make sure she doesn’t find out he lives in the trailer park despite her already knowing. She understands the need to have a certain image, she was the cheerleader for four years, she gets it better than any one person could. She just wants to make friends with her team, and Zack is probably going to be the easiest one to  conquer of the three of them. (Billy is none factor so she isn’t counting him in the people she needs to make friends with.) 

Talking with Jason will open an unnecessary amount of baggage, that she doesn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole. Having been aware of each other, but not close, when they were both popular she “knows” him. Most of what she knows is really bad gossip and unproven claims about him from other girls on the cheer squad. Kim knows why Jason wants to be friends. A familiar face, both of them fallen from the top of the high school hierarchy. In theory they should be friends already. They’ve spent weeks together in detention together and share the same study period. There have been plenty of opportunities where they should have talked, but they just didn’t. 

Trini is a problem for her in a completely different way that Jason is. She’s mostly unknown to her. What she does know she learned in the last few days of knowing her, a lot of it not even directed at her. Getting to know Trini could be very dangerous for her, because she knows that she's her type. Kim has to be careful around Trini, because one wrong move and the other girl will run. She knows that from experience.

Kim really shouldn't play into stereotypes, but she wants to believe that Trini is into girls. She could be just a loner and doesn’t care about how she dresses, but Kim really wants Trini to be gay. All of them for the personal reason that she could have a chance with the other girl. There’s a thought in the back of her mind that is telling her that Trini deserves better than her, and she frowns at her own self loathing. The voice sounds vaguely like her grandmother so there’s a lot to unpack there.

She didn’t used to think about herself in this way. Well she did but not as frequently as she does now. Everything she does there’s that little voice in her head tell what’s wrong with her or that she doesn’t deserve good things. Lately it’s saying that she don’t deserve being a power ranger, and she can’t help but agree. Zordon said that the coins chose them, but Kim thinks she was in the right place and the team needed five rangers. She's unworthy to have these powers, especially compared to her teammates.

A knock on the passenger side door alerts Kim that Zack is there. She unlocks the door and drives them to her house without even thinking. He follows her in the door and doesn't say anything as she goes into the kitchen.

"I know you just got off work, so you can have whatever you can find in the fridge."

"Where are your parents?"

"Business trips."

"Both of them? What do they do?"

"Mom's a doctor, a heart sugeon ironically enough, and Dad is an event planner. Mom normally flies out for medical conferences, while dad is pretty much always traveling for work. He's in New York right now and she's in Canada."

"Wow the farthest I've ever been out of the city is the next town over. You speak other languages?"

"I mean my mom taught me Hindi, but I've never been to the homeland. My dad taught me sign language too."

"Me neither." 

Kim sits across from Zack, he sat after he found something to make a sandwich with, and looks at him. After about a minute she gets up from the table and grabs her laptop and therapy journal. She had it set up in front of the TV playing music lowly, the silence was getting to her. She starts writing, and before long Zack finishes his food.

"Do you think we'll have training tomorrow?"

"Probably not. We may have to save the world but homework and chores still exist. Besides Jason already sent out a mass text saying there wasn't."

"Huh. Guess I'm out of the loop because I don't have a phone."

"You don't have a phone?" 

"Nope. It's just my mom and me and we can barely keep our roof over our heads. Can't really afford the new iPhone like everyone else."

Kim frowns at the sentence. Not even three days ago all she had to say was her phone had water damage and got a new one in less than a day. 

"Is that why you don't go to school? Too busy working?"

"Yeah it didn't start out that way. I quit last year and didn't want the waste my time wallowing in self-pity. So I started working."

"You can always get your G.E.D. They teach the classes on Saturday across the hall from the detention room."

"Yeah and those classes cost fifty dollars for a semester. I can't spare any money right now, not with my below minimum wage salary."

Kim looks at Zack again and she can now see the tiredness in his eyes. He looks like he hasn’t slept a good night’s rest in a long time. There’s bags under his eyes and he looks older than he is supposed to be. The only way she knows how old he is is because he left his wallet in her car.

"Anyway thanks for the food, but I gotta go. Curfew and all that. Later Kimmy."

Zack grabs his bike and leaves, leaving Kim alone again. She turns back to her therapy journal and sighs before going up to her room. He has no idea that her inviting him over was more for her than for him. Kim is just so tired of being alone all the time. She went from never being alone, to solitude in the span of a week. The extreme polar opposites giving her whiplash and messing with her mental health. 

She normally can't stand the Saturdays she has therapy, but now she's looking forward to the session after this week's detention. She needs to talk to someone and maybe Dr. Cranston can help her breathe again.

Friday is pretty uneventful aside from sitting with Jason at lunch. She actually needs to talk to him about training and nothing else. 

"What time is training on Saturday?"

"I was thinking like right after detention, why?"

"I have a doctor's appointment right after how about two o'clock instead?"

"What are you seeing the doctor for? Are you okay?"

"Relax it's nothing medical, it's more mental if anything."

"Therapy?"

"Yeah. Every other Saturday from twelve thirty to two p.m. I've had the appointment for a while now."

"Yeah sure two is fine. Don't want to get in the way of your mental health or anything."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Do you have to do community service?" 

"I was never arrested for what I did. Is that where you ran off to yesterday?"

"Yeah they have me in the community center. Which is fine but I had to get Trini to watch my little sister."

"You talked to Trini? How did that go? She doesn’t seem to talk much."

"It was fine we have a common interest, she has two little brothers so she understood babysitting. I did most of the talking though. The only person she ever really talks to is Billy and Zack sometimes."

"I mean it's Billy, she probably doesn't get a word in edge wise. Not that Billy isn't great but he talks a lot compared to her. She's the silent sexy type."

"Silent and sexy type? Okay you walking romance novel, noted."

"Oh please this is not surprising in the slightest. You know me and I know you Jason, your bi ass is just as bad as me!"

"I know it's not, I barely said anything you're the one taking offense. I was just acknowledging your attraction to Trini, chill."

"Okay good because I was about to call you the biggest hypocrite in the world."

The bell rings and they part ways still laughing, a temporary reprieve from their deep rooted sadness. While Kim's actions show the deterioration of her mental health, Jason's pain is more inward. No one knows that he is probably in the same mental state as Kim was when she was at her worst. Kim always starts thinking about other people and puts them before herself.

The rest of her day was mostly uneventful and now she’s back in her empty house all alone. She calls her mother and father and asks them to send her more money for gas and food. She’s not going to use the money for that but she will need it for something.

Kim finds Zack easily enough at the old train car in the quarry. Trini is there too but she's on the cliff edge doing yoga with her headphones on, so Kim leaves her alone.

"Yo Taylor, I'm coming up!"

Zack reaches his hand out and helps Kim up and she sits next to him. She sits her backpack between them and they both watch Trini do yoga for a moment before either of them speak.

"So this is what you do on Fridays? Perv on girls that can kick your ass?"

"Normally I would do yoga with her, but she had a fight with her mom this morning so she needs the time to think. I will join her later when she doesn't want to punch anything that moves."

"Not even gonna deny the perving part?"

"We both know that it's true so why lie? Aren't you here for the same thing?"

"No I came her for you actually, I got you something."

"Look, I know we talked yesterday but I don't take charity or handouts okay? Whatever it is you can keep it."

"It's not a handout it's an offer of friendship. It's a burner phone so you won't be kept out of the loop. In exchange for it I only want you to come over a few times a week so I won't be by myself while my parents are gone."

Zack flips the phone around in his hands. It's an out of date android phone, but it can text and make calls so it should be fine. Plus with as much as he works he could use his own phone to pick up shifts. He sets it back in the box for a moment and just looks at Kim. He wants to trust her, he really does, but he just can't not yet. 

"So in order to take the phone I have to hang out at your house?"

"It doesn't have to be at my house but basically yeah."

"Fine, but I'm going to pay you back for it one way or another."

"Oh also I'm teaching you how to swim. You can't keep holding onto Trini every time we go to train."

"Fine. Can Trini be there?"

"If she wants to, you gotta ask her tho."

"That's fine I can actually talk to her unlike you. Aren't cheerleaders supposed to know how to talk to people?"

"Guys not girls. Girls are a whole new thing for me."

"First time liking a girl or..."

"No I've known I'm bisexual for a while now and I've had crushes before. Trini just makes me feel nervous for some reason."

"Maybe it's because you know nothing about her except for her name and that she's a Power Ranger too."

"Yeah maybe."

Kim looks out to the cliff where Trini is, just as she does a handstand. She can see the muscles flex from where she is, and Kim squirms in her spot. Zack hands her a pair of binoculars and chuckles as Kim doesn't even look away as she puts them to her face. She doesn't stay for long but she makes plans for going to her little lake with Zack on Sunday for swimming lessons.

Kim pops a pizza in the oven when she gets home. She doesn't feel like making anything that can burn, and just doesn't want to spend any more money today. She eats at the table while she writes in her journal, making sure to write everything and check that she didn't mention anything about becoming a Power Ranger. She's a little paranoid about it but it's one of the only rules she has to follow so she does. 

Kim gets upstairs and looks at herself in the mirror. She has a few scratches on her skin from training that are starting to fade, but she's not looking at those. Kim has always had muscles from doing cheerleading, dance, and gymnastics. Her arms have never been this big before. She doesn't have huge bulky arms but the muscle is very much there. There is an armor under her skin, and she needs to be strong  in order to use it. This muscle is necessary for her to succeed in saving the world and she will use it.

Maybe she can talk to Trini about fight training or teaching her something about fighting. She's been getting by on her quick reflexes in training and that won't cut it in a real fight. Putties are one thing but an actual human she'll be shit out of luck. Kim goes to sleep dreaming of pink and yellow light swirls floating around a green backdrop. She has no idea what it means but she tries not to think about it too much. 

Saturday Kim plays hangman with Jason and does homework with Billy during detention. Detention is mostly uneventful aside from that and then she’s off to therapy. Kim has been seeing Dr. Cranston for six months now, since she had tried to jump off the roof of the school. It was two months after everything happened with Ty and before she got detention. Ironically enough physically assaulting her ex boyfriend wasn’t what told her parents she needed to see someone. It was what she said when she got home school that day. The feeling of being alone and having no one on her side caused her to lash out negatively at the first person she ran into. A bubbling pot waiting to boil over from excess pressure. 

With the help of Dr. Cranston she’s been able to control her impulses more, but there are day she still slips. Last Saturday is a prime example of her slipping instead of doing what she was taught. That’s why Kim has to keep a journal, to mark the highs and lows of her progress to a healthy mind. At the start of her sessions she didn’t realize she needed as much help as she did. Yeah she thought about jumping off the roof of her school, but her school isn’t that tall she would have been hurt but fine.

She didn't know her denial was that bad until Dr. Cranston really sat with her and analyzed her behavior. As Kim sits in the waiting room she tries to remember the things she has to talk about. There's a coffee and tea section in the corner that she indulges before and after she leaves. It's probably her favorite part about coming here.

"Kim? Come on in." 

Dr. Cranston smiles and she instantly remembers that smile. Kim never made the connection between Billy and her therapist. The fact the she never realized that her therapist is Billy's mother makes her feel like an idiot. She can't believe that she didn't notice that until right now wow. Maybe she should bring it up in the session. Dr. Cranston opens the journal to the date of Sunday of last week and pulls out her own notepad to make notes for today's session.

"So Kim how have you been since we last met?"

"Uh, pretty good. I had a moment last Saturday and cut my hair in the school bathroom. Two of my old friends made fun of me for having detention when they were the reason I'm in detention. Instead I cut my hair and did not respond to them like I normally would."

"Well I would say you should not have met with them in the first place, but you showed exemplary control in not reacting the way they wanted you to. Your hair looks wonderful, I actually think you look younger with the shorter hair."

"Thanks, my mom said the same thing. It's different and I think that's what I needed." 

"I think positive change is good too. Not all change is good change. That is something you should be cautious about."

"Okay."

Dr. Cranston flips through the journal and makes a note of something then turns another page.

"Tell me about this study group you joined. You wrote about it a few times in your journal."

"It's me and three other kids in my grade. We meet up a few times a week and share notes. It started in detention on Saturday and we added more people over time."

"Who is apart of this group?"

"Uh me, Billy Cranston, Jason Scott, and this other girl named Trini in my biology class."

"That's interesting Billy told me about this study group too, I'm glad that you're surrounding yourself with a different type of people than your last group of friends."

"You're not just saying that because Billy is your son right?"

"I am not, I can separate work from my personal life. However I will say that I'm happy to hear he's making friends that are good people."

"I'll try my best."

”That’s all you can really do is try your best. Just remember that your best is different than what people expect from you. Do what is right for you and your health. How do you feel about being home alone for three weeks?”

”I’m okay with it, it’s a lot of quiet but I haven’t destroyed the house yet so it fine.”

"You've written in the past about being alone and feeling alone and how hard it is for you. Do you still feel that way?"

"I think I do, I have this big empty house all to myself and it's weird. My parents have never both been gone at the same time, so it's taking some getting used to. I've taken to staying out later this week, mostly because I have the car again. I think I don't want to go home because there's no one there."

"You've been staying awake later too. Three a.m. is not a healthy time to go to bed."

"I know, I'm trying to get better at that but I just can't seem get my brain to stop until it's that late."

"Billy sometimes has that problem with his condition. He'd be down in the basement for hours, sometimes not eating because he's working on some project of his. What I would suggest to you is stop everything an hour before you normally go to bed. That way your mind has time to relax and you can get a restful sleep."

"Okay I'll try that. Can I ask you something? It's about Billy so if you don't want to answer it's fine."

"Sure go ahead."

"Did you choose your profession because of Billy's condition or was that an unhappy accident?"

"Nothing about Billy is an unhappy accident, I wouldn’t change a thing about my son. But to answer your question I was already getting my doctorate when Billy was born but didn't pick my field of study until later. Youth and Family therapy was never the plan but it seemed to work out well for me."

"Yeah I guess it did."

"And looks like our time is almost up. Any last things you want to talk about before you enjoy the rest of your Saturday?”

”No I don’t think so. Other than I met the girl that was on the roof with me that day.”

”Oh really? I must have missed that page in your journal. How did that go?”

”She doesn’t really talk much but I got to say thank you for what she did and she’s in my study group so I hope I can talk to her again more in depth. She’s really shy.”

”I think you need to go by her terms if you want to have that conversation. More introverted people take longer to open up emotionally, she was probably on the roof for her own reasons. And that is time Ms. Hart. You are heading in the right direction despite your lapse. Don’t be so hard on yourself no one is perfect, everyone struggles just like you. Just keep working on it.”

”Okay I will. Thank you Dr. Cranston.”

She walks Kim back out and smiles as she closes the door of her office. Kim looks down at her journal and smiles. She’s getting better, slowly but surely she is. She makes herself a cup of tea and heads out knowing she has to pick up Billy and Jason before training. She plugs in the aux cord and hits shuffle and drives off into the rest of her day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Trini spends Saturday afternoon with Billy to find out how he ticks. Then she goes shopping with Kim and Zack.


	12. No Pulling Punches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy and Trini hangout before training while his mom is at work. They learn a bit more about each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot but in a good way. Hope you like it. Italics is a different language and it’s more mandarin happening

Trini checks her phone as she waits for Billy. Unlike three of her team members she doesn’t have Saturday detention. She has no idea what any of them did except for Jason, but to be honest she doesn’t really care. The reason she brings it up is because she’s waiting for Billy at his house because he wanted to hang out before training. Trini doesn’t know why but they’ve been talking about superheroes since Thursday so she doesn’t mind hanging out. She feels like she can be herself around Billy, more so than Zack. Zack makes her feel calm like when she’s with her brothers, Billy makes her forget about her pain for a bit and have like she’s a kid again. However ironic that is.

She feels her coin vibrate and looks up to see Billy walking down the street in her direction. Trini doesn’t know why she has her coin with her, actually she does, she doesn’t want her mother to find it if she goes into her room. She hasn’t had it too far away from her that often since she got it unless she had to shower but it’s always in the same room. She left it in her room once and left for a second and came back to all the clothes on her floor floating in midair. After that she made sure to always have something with pockets on so she can always have it on her person. She’s kinda worried about it in her backpack, but the pockets on her jeans are shallow today. Ugh women’s pants are the worst.

”Hi Trini, ready to hang out?”

“I sure am Billy, are we going inside?”

“Not for long I need to put my homework away and then we can hang. Have you ever been to Angel Grove Comics?”

”I’ve seen it and my little brothers have been annoying me to take them there. Mind if they come too I’m sure my dad will let me use the car if I take them.”

”Sure I don’t mind if they come, let me just put my stuff away first. Come on in.”

Billy unlocks the door and let’s Trini in first. Billy’s house is warm, that’s the first thing she notices. He tells her to take off her shoes when she comes inside, they have a carpeted floor and want to keep it clean. The walls are painted the color of sand that reminds her of the six months she lived in Hawaii. It makes her just feel calm just being in here, even though she feels weird being in Billy’s house without his mom being here. Billy goes straight to the kitchen and comes back with a bottle of water for her and sets it on the table under a coaster. He then runs up the stairs and comes back down with a different backpack in his hands and gets his own water and sits. He pours it into a glass before he drinks it, and Trini wants to ask about it but Billy speaks first.

”Mom always told me to never invite someone over and not offer them something when they come inside. It’s like coming in someone’s house and not speaking, really rude.”

”I agree Billy. That is rude, speaking of which where is your mother?”

”Work. She does most of her work on Saturday, it’s when most people are free early in the day.”

”She’s a Doctor?”

”Therapist. Or Psychologist I can never remember the difference no matter how many times she tells me. She has a doctorate though so yeah she is a doctor.”

”What’s her field?”

”Oh uh family and youth therapy. She said once that I inspired her line of work, she wants to help other families with children who have special needs and the kids themselves.”

”Wow. I used to go to therapy a few years back, I’ve been looking for a new one.”

”What did you need to go to therapy for if you don’t mind me asking?”

”My mom is kinda negative about a couple things in my life and and I tried to swallow a bottle full of pills when she wasn’t home. The doctor declared me suicidal so I got sent to therapy. I kinda also have issues controlling my anger and emotions so it helps with that.”

”What did your mother not like that you did?”

”The way I dressed and that I wanted to study martial arts and read comics instead of go dress shopping and like any of the boys in my grade. She thought I was behaving like a boy and that she was raising a girl and two boys not three boys. She wanted the perfect daughter and when I wasn’t her idea of perfect she got mean.”

”I’m sorry she made you feel like that. I don’t know if it helps but I think the fact that you study martial arts and read comic books is awesome, and you can dress however you want around me.”

”Thanks Billy that actually means a lot. You ready to go?”

“Yes let me put my glass away.”

She didn’t tell him the homophobic portion of the ever growing feud between her and her mother. Not that she didn’t want to, she just isn’t ready to lose a friendship like she has before. She isn’t ashamed of who she is, but the people around her normally are that’s why she keeps it under wraps until she can trust someone. She hasn’t actually told her family but her mother’s assumptions of her aren’t wrong. Trini is just waiting for the day June kicks her out for even saying it or bringing up a girl. She has hope that her father won’t let her do it, but she’s been saving up just in case it happens.

Trini looks at the photos around the room and the photos in Billy’s house are a lot more natural than the ones in hers. His smile doesn’t look forced and his parents look genuinely happy, her family portraits look like stock photos. Stiff, fake, and awkward. She wonders what that’s like. To have a mother who cares unconditionally, it must be nice.

She gets her shoes on and waits for Billy to do the same. As they walk the three blocks to her house Billy tells her the story of how he got his first comic book. It’s a long story but the gist of it is his father was a collector and bought him his first book to get him started on collecting when he was younger. He only collected comics of black heroes and they’re probably worth a lot of money now but he’ll never sell them because they were his father’s.

Trini’s first comic story is similar, her uncle Walter bought Trini her first book after a fight with her mother on her birthday because she didn’t want to wear the dress she bought her. Or that she got it dirty either way it had to do with a dress so Trini probably did it on purpose. She was nine and all she wanted to do was play with her friends, it wasn’t her fault they wanted to play by a patch of mud. 

He gave it to her because it would help her with her reading comprehension and keep her interested in the story. His way of thinking was that June can’t be mad at her daughter for reading and looking at pictures. Well when a year later Trini wanted a superhero themed birthday party and not a female hero, but all the male heroes? Yeah, June had a problem with that. To be fair the female characters were either the male heroes non-powered family or their love interests, Trini wasn’t interested in them. She never got a comic with a female hero lead when she was younger, mainly because they were written by men, but also because she felt weird looking at the drawings, also all done by men, of the over-sexualized female characters.

Trini opens the door to her house and walks right in motioning for Billy to follow her. They have hardwood floors so he doesn’t need to take off his shoes

“I’m back!”

”That quickly?”

Trini smirks at her father’s question and goes right into the living room where she knows he is. She gives him a one-armed hug and turns his head to Billy standing in the doorway. Michael stands and he’s taller than Billy but not by much because Billy is the tallest of all five of them. 

“Billy right? Nice to meet you, I’m Michael.”

Billy shakes his hand with a smile, okay with touching in this instance. Micheal steps back and sits back in his chair then looks at Trini to answer his particular question. 

“We’re uh going to the comic book store, if I take the twins off your hands can we take the car?”

”You know where where they are, I’ll get the keys for you.”

”Alright come on Billy let’s go upstairs.”

”Okay it was nice to meet you Michael.”

”Nice to meet you too Billy. Hope to see you around more.”

Trini doesn’t touch Billy to move him but she does makes sure to get him to follow her up the stairs to the boys room. They pass her room, where the door is thankfully closed because she needs to clean up in there. She knocks on the door and opens the door. She is the only one that knocks in the house so they know that it’s her coming to talk to them and not their parents.

Miguel runs to her and hugs her around her waist. She clears the hair out of his face as he snuggles into her and she smiles. Marco gets up and does the same on the other side and Trini just lets it happen. She hears Marco whispers something in Spanish and she responds in kind before they let go of her. 

“Hey get dressed I’m taking you two somewhere.”

“Where are we going?”

”The comic book store. I think it’s time you got your first books. Go get you things on.”

”Really?”

”Yeah go get your stuff on my friend and I will be downstairs.”

"What's your friend's name?" 

"William, but he likes to be called Billy and he doesn't like to be touched."

"Okay it's nice to meet you Billy."

"He's the comic book expert so you'll get to talk to him more on the way to the store. We'll be downstairs okay?"

The twins smile before they quickly start running around to get dressed to leave. Billy goes down the stairs first with Trini behind him. Michael is standing in the kitchen when they come down. He motions her forward with a bottle of water to his mouth, not putting it down until she is standing in front of him.

"So you'll get money for any books they want, only books, no toys. Toys are on your wallet not mine. Lunch because they haven't eaten yet, no more donuts please, and you can use the car for whatever after you drop them off. You'll have to refill the tank tomorrow with your money."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Curfew is still the same, though I guess since you're going out more we'll have to change it. Oh and your mother said to clean your room since you're having guests now."

"I'll do that tomorrow. One of my friends asked me to teach them how to swim tomorrow can I go?"

"They in your study group?"

"Yeah."

"Then sure. It's nice to see you out and about. No more self-inflicted isolating yourself."

"Sir yes sir."

The sound of quick footsteps down the stairs brings her attention to her brothers. Micheal winks at her and places money and the keys to the car in her hand, then leaves to watch whatever college sport is on on Saturday afternoon. From the sound of it its basketball but it's only October so probably not. Billy taps her on the arm and she looks up at him.

"What's up?"

"What are the twins' names? I want to be able to talk to them properly."

"The darker skin one is Marco, and the one that looks more like me is Miguel."

"Okay and thank you for telling me the difference. If they looked more alike that would be a problem."

"Well they do look alike, one of them just looks like my uncle. He's black and Mexican."

"Fifty-fifty?"

"Yep grandpa was black grandma is Mexican, so I'm twenty five percent black."

"That's really interesting. We should head out they are really antsy."

"Hmm I think you're right. Okay let's go you two!"

On the drive to the store Trini skips the radio in order to listen to Billy give her the directions. The twins ask him a bunch of questions about his favorite comic book characters and what types of books he likes the best. The car is filled with Billy’s speaking all the way to the store. There's a sign on the window that says National Free Comic Book Day and Trini smiles at the idea of free stuff. 

"Billy did you know it was free comic book day?"

"Oh of course, which is why I wanted to come to the store, even if they don't give out anything for free there's always discounts on stuff. It's a great way to get people into books."

"Alright you two stay close to either me or Billy when we go inside okay? If you get separated go to the front of the store and wait."

"Okay."

Trini smiles at them talking in unison then they all get out of the car. Marco goes with Billy, holding on to his jacket, and Trini has Miguel. As they walk through the store Billy points out different things to them that's interesting. The section for comics with African American characters is in the back of the store and the ones with other ethnic groups or next to them. Trini watches as Billy whispers something to Marco and he grabs a book that was on the bottom shelf for him.

"What's that?"

"Miles Morales’ Spiderman, though he isn't just black but also Puerto Rican, he is my favorite. They're making a movie about his character so I want to catch up on his story before hand."

"You're not going to get Black Panther? There's a movie for that coming out too."

"Yeah but I already read the current run or Black Panther, so I'm already caught up on that. Here's the first volume of Miles Morales your brothers might like it."

Billy hands a book different from the book in his hands to Miguel and the boys sit down next to the shelf and starts reading. Trini watches over them and looks at Marco as his eyes light up at the image on the page.

"Trini look he looks like me! Normally they look like you two, but he looks like me!"

"He does look like you! That's so cool."

Trini starts to smile watching them read, knowing there probably isn't a character that is like her. They might be Latina or they might be gay but being both is next to impossible.

"Here Trini you might like this one. She dresses like you."

Trini looks at the book and she is dressed like her. She has a denim jacket with a hood on it and is wearing a blue shirt with a star on it.

"Who is this? I've never heard of America before."

"Well America Chavez is a Puerto Rican girl from Brooklyn who is gay and has super powers she started in the ultimates. It's Marvel's way to make up for the lack of diversity in their comic lineup."

"Latina and gay? My mom would have a fit."

"Is she homophobic?"

"She's just very old school catholic."

"Oh, well if you want I can show you other books that America is in. The Ultimates is actually a good book, it's teens saving the world and trying to still be teens."

"Sounds familiar. Sure, point them out to me."

"There's also the Runaways that are a group of teens that are superheroes. They're based in California and fight their parents because they're evil. The main characters are a black boy and an Asian girl and the book has more women than men characters."

"I'll get that one too."

"Luckily that book is already done. I have both the volumes and the separate books. You can borrow them if you like."

"You sure?"

"Yeah books are meant to be read not kept forever untouched. One day I'll show you my collection and you can borrow as many of them you want."

"Thanks."

"I don't have many books with many female leads but most of them are people or color leads or written by people of color so there's that."

"How about we buy what we have and we can continue this comic conversation later? Because we have an hour before we have to meet up with the others, and we still need to buy them lunch before I take them back home."

"Oh I almost forgot that we haven’t had training yet. It's so late in the day."

"Well Kim had something right after detention according to Jason, it would have been right after but she asked to change the time. Had an appointment or something, didn't really bother to ask past that. It's none of my business."

"Okay, I'll take these to the front and you grab your brothers so we can go. Where are we taking them for lunch?"

"A burger place? Something quick and simple that will make those two quiet in the car on the way back."

"I haven't had a burger in a while, my condition kinda makes it impossible to enjoy most foods, but burgers I can do."

"What can you not eat?"

"It's not about eating it but more about mouth feel for me."

"Interesting. Alright let's go."

It takes twenty minutes to get the twins up and out of the store and to the burger shop. It's an old mom and pop shop that has old school milkshakes and looks right out of the fifties. They sit and eat talking about comics, the twins throwing questions at Billy a mile a minute and he answers every single one. The questions continue in the car on the way back home.

They all go in the house and Trini quickly grabs her things for training and heads back out, mainly going fast because she doesn't want to have Billy in her house by himself for too long. As they drive Billy tells her to go to Kim's house so she can leave the car there. Following his directions she does that and sees Kim getting out of her own car in the driveway.

“Hey. Ready to head over there?”

“Nope, but we’re going anyway. Thanks for letting us park here. Nice place you have.”

”Thanks, my parents’ money paid for it. Come on this way, I know a short cut.”

Kim leads them through the backwoods behind her house to the quarry. Trini wonders if this is where Kim would have taken her that first night they got the coins. Kim seems to be fairly comfortable in these woods if Trini’s observation is anything to go by.

”You come back here often?”

”Oh yeah I go hiking all the time and I learned how to swim in one of these lakes. Haven’t seen all of it yet, but one day I will.”

”Must be nice to have all of this as your backyard.”

”Yeah it is. Coming out here helps me think.”

Billy starts talking about their comic book store trip earlier today, telling Kim about the deals they got, effectively taking over the conversation for the rest of the walk. Jason is the only one there when they get there, Zack did text her that he had to work today so he will be an hour or so late at the most. She goes ahead and starts her stretches, knowing that Zack will get here when he gets here. 

"Where's Zack?"

"He had work he couldn't get out of it in time."

"Well let's hope he gets here soon, we need all five of us here."

All four of them separate and start doing separate forms of training. Billy starts sparring with Alpha to work on his reflexes. Kim and Jason spar together apparently because Kim doesn't know how to fight properly. Why she didn't ask her for tips Trini doesn't know, but whatever. Trini opts for a few putties to work on her strength and stamina with her new power.

Fighting is something she's good at, but only against other people. Putties are rock monsters made of stone and concrete, and that's a different skillset she has to learn. She has to change how she use her muscle and power, where she would normally use her precision fighting. Having all the training she has under her belt is actually hurting her because she has to change her whole fighting style. The way she wins matches is with her precision punches and hits, because she's most of the time smaller than the person she's fighting.

No matter what she does she feels like she's pulling her punches against the putties in front of her, and it's frustrating. She needs a break so she grabs her water bottle and leaves the pit. She sits on the cliff and breathes deeply for a moment getting her bearings. The coin vibrates in her pocket and she sees Zack on the other side of the cliff. He silently joins her and sits on the ground next to her.

_"You okay?"_

Trini looks over at him, he's sitting on the ground so they're the same height. He's speaking in mandarin to her, giving her an option to talk to him if she wants to. That's the thing about Zack is that he cares that you're comfortable when he tries to talk to you. 

_"Yeah, just frustrated about how training is going. I feel like I'm not putting enough into my fighting. Fighting is what I'm good at but now I suck."_

_"You don't suck at fighting, you're the best out of all of us. You have years of fight training under your belt."_

_"Yeah I know that, but how come I can't remember any of it when I'm down there?"_

_“Because it’s new, a learning curve and all that shit. Everyone else has it easy because we’re learning this shit for the first time. Don’t be too hard on yourself, this is different for all of us.”_

Trini nods and pulls a ziplock bag out and hands it to him for his phone and wallet. She knew she was going to be the one to get him so she just had that in her back pocket. He puts his things in it and puts it in his bag, and starting to stand. 

_”You’re coming tomorrow right?”_

_”Yeah, you want me there don’t you?”_

_”Yeah, I trust you way more than Kim. She’s cool and all but I don’t know her you know? Just like be there for me in case she let's me fucking drown alright?"_

_"Yeah alright I got your back."_

_"Kay, cool."_

Trini hands him the water bottle and all but tosses Zack over her shoulder and drops into the pit like a wrestling move from the top rope. Straight down they go, Zack laughing and screaming as they hit the water below them. She lets the both of them sink for a moment getting as low as they can get before swimming the rest of the way. They land in the pit with eyes on them, as the others noticed Trini left and decided to give her time alone.

"Zack since you're late start stretching with Kim and get ready you're sparring."

"With you, boss man?"

"Nope. Just start stretching."

Jason walks over to her and he doesn't say anything, he just smirks and tilts his head back in Zack's direction. Trini nods, knowing exactly what he's asking her to do. She steps up to Zack in the middle of the pit and waits. The thing about this is that everyone knows what she can do, she told and showed them the second day they were here. This isn't a fair fight by any means, despite the fact that Zack has a longer reach and he is just bigger than her in general. He will lose this fight no matter what she does and he does to defend himself. This is a demonstration and a way to learn from visuals.

"Alright Zack since you were late you have to spar against Trini. I think that afterwards you'll be nice and limber, and the putties will be like cutting through butter with a hot knife."

"Wait I have to fight Trini? Do you have a death wish against me?"

Trini smirks in his direction and he turns back to Jason frantically shaking his head at him. Jason looks at him unphased and his pleas continue.

"Please! I'll fight ten putties at once, I'll fight anyone else, just please don't make me fight Trini."

"What's the matter Zack you scared?"

"Hell yes I'm scared, you're a damn martial arts expert! You're gonna kill me!"

"No I won't, I don't even know if we can even die with these powers we have."

"Well I don't want to find out right now! Come on Jason have some compassion man!"

"Trini?"

She looks up at him as she takes off her long sleeve, leaving the graphic tee underneath the only thing she's wearing. She tosses her shirt on top of her bag and stretches her arms out.

"Yeah?"

"Don't pull any punches."

"Not a problem."

Zack's face shifts from mild panic to legit worry for his own life in that moment. Knowing what they just talked about and what Jason just said seems way too coincidental, and that makes her smirk. They know he just means don't go easy on him because he's on the team, but it's funny how all this worked out. She watches Zack get into a defensive stance, a weak one that will defend nothing, and laughs at that point. Trini goes and corrects him into a stance that will actually protect him in some way, and then goes into her own.

No one moves to swing at first, Trini is sizing him up, and Zack is waiting for her to stop circling like a shark. She wants him to swing first, expecting it actually, that’s what most dudes do when they compete against a woman. Trying to get the upper hand by using brute force is a typical man thing to do, but Zack is not a typical man. Zack is smart, not in a educational way, but he knows her and he knows her weak points. Her reach is terrible because of her short arms and he knows that if he waits he could get a good shot before she can hit him. The plus to her having a terrible reach is that she has a lot of practice with blocking and dodging. All of her opponents are bigger than her she had to get good at defense.

She stops next to Billy and hands him her beanie, stepping out of the circle she was making around Zack. Kim pulls out a hair tie and quickly does up Trini’s hair in a ponytail before she steps back up to Zack. She makes the bring it hand motion and he charges, finally starting the fight. Zack is surprisingly fast, his blows are fast and Trini can’t block them all, so he does get in a few hits on her. She catches his arm, twists him around, and throws him back to where he was knocking him in the dirt. He gets up and unzips his car wash onesie to reveal a white shirt and basketball shorts and she waits for him. Observation is the key to fighting, especially when you don’t know all your opponents skills yet, and that’s what she does.

He makes the bring it motion to her this time, signaling the next round and she doesn’t hold back. She lands a series of blows on him, and he tries to block them but does not manage as well as she did before. Trini jumps and lands a kick that he catches, but she just brings up her other foot that connects with his chest making him let her go and flip her into the air. She makes a three point landing and charges right back in when she sees her opening. She grabs his arm and twists again only this time it brings him to a knee. She holds him there and he breathes heavily for a moment then breaks the hold. 

They both take a moment to breathe and Trini smirks. Zack is a good opponent, a little sloppy because he has no training, but he’s good. She could easily refine his skills if he wanted the help, but right now she has to finish kicking his ass. Before she finishes the fight, Trini bows toward him in a sign of respect for a battle well fought. Trini rushes up and strikes him in his ribs that makes him bend over closer to her height. She grabs him by the neck and turns him around so he's not facing her. She pulls him into a chokehold and holds him there until he taps her arm in submission. She drops him and he goes straight down into the dirt in a flopping motion. 

Trini looks around at the other rangers for the first time since the fight started. Billy is clapping while talking to a stunned Kimberly, mouth agape and everything, and Jason is just nodding off at the side. 

“No offense Jason but I want Trini to train me instead of you, that was badass.”

”I don’t think you’re ready for that yet Kim, but she is right that was badass Trini.”

”How long have you been training in martial arts?”

”Uhh on and off for almost nine or so years. I started with my aunt when I was seven and kind of fell in love with it, so I kept going with it.”

"Can someone get me some medical attention? I think crazy girl broke one of my ribs "

"I didn't feel a crack, besides your broken pride."

"You're so hurtful CG!"

"Relax Tarado we have accelerated healing, you'll be fine by morning."

"How do you know we have accelerated healing?"

"I asked, plus Billy told me. We're making a list of all our powers so he could see what comic book hero we are most like."

"Can someone help me up off the ground though? I can't feel my legs."

Jason reaches down and grabs Zack by the back of his shirt and stands him up. The bruises on his arms have already started to vanish and she looks down and notices the same on her own arms. By the time she gets up tomorrow it won’t even look like she got in a fight at all. Scratches take a little longer to heal, she found out by the cuts she had on her hands disappearing three days after she got them. Now she brings gloves to training because those questions from her mother were hard to answer. 

Jason takes him into the ship, probably to get an x-ray for his supposed broken rib. She hears steps behind her and turns to see Kim behind her. 

"I wasn't joking about you training me, I have good reflexes but that's about it. Plus we're the only girls we got to stick together or whatever those girl power songs always say."

"Yeah sure, can't have you dying out there when we have to fight this gold bitch. And you're right we have to stick together. You...want to go to target with me later?"

"Sure what do you need me for?"

"I haven't gone swimming in a while and I need a suit. Zack will probably need trunks or something, I'm not going to be swimming in my underwear with him around."

"Yeah no worries we'll take your car so you can just drop me off when we're done. You have to drop Billy off don't you?"

"Yeah but his house is on the way to the target so I can drop him off and keep going."

Jason comes back out with Zack and training continues as it did before. Only this time Zack is paired with Jason and Kim is fighting putties with her. Kim watches her closely with every punch and hit she throws, apparently serious about Trini training her. It doesn't bother her, it will just take some getting used to. Training ends an hour later and Zack is collapsed on the ground again. 

"Too much exercise. Can someone pick me up again?"

Trini grabs him and throws him up through the water with a shout.

"Stick your landing!"

She turns back around to the others and starts to gather her and Zack's things to leave. She quickly checks the tag on his work uniform then puts it in his bag. Trini carries them both and quickly leaves the pit, not to check on Zack, but to check on Zack. He's laying out on his back in the grass breathing heavily. Billy comes out of the pit after her then Kim and last is Jason. Their leader leaves very quickly, probably to check on his sister or something but they wave him off as he exits. 

"I did not stick my landing by the way!"

"I could tell. Want to go to Target with us you need swim trunks?"

"....Yeah let me go get some real clothes first."

"M'kay meet up at Kim's place. Billy do you want to go too?"

"I'll have to stop at home first, I have a list of things I need to buy."

"Okay looks like we're all going to Target. Come on Billy let's go to your house first."

Trini drops Zack's bag by his feet then she leaves with Billy and Kim back to the direction of her car. In the car Billy compares her sparring match to something in a comic book she hasn't read and he promises to show her the book he's talking about some other time. His mom's car is in the driveway when they get to the house so Billy says she can wait in the car while he goes inside. She calls her dad while she waits to tell him when she'll be home to help with dinner and where she's going. She's done talking to him when Billy comes back out. Billy’s mom is watching them from the door and Trini waves when she sees her to not be rude.

Kim and Zack are waiting outside for them they get in the backseat and they're off to the store. They all go in separate directions once they get inside, Billy goes to the auto section, Zack goes to the men’s section, and the girls go to the women’s section. It’s still warm out so the store still has the summer clothes on the racks, so it’s easy to find swimsuits in stock.

“So what type of suit are you looking for?”

”Bikini top. Shorts. Preferably black but I’m flexible on the color. Well as long as it’s not pink, no offense.”

”None taken, most androgynous, or just masculine women don’t like the “traditional feminine colors”. I don’t really like pink much either.”

Trini raises her eyebrow at Kim, does this girl even know what being androgynous means?

”What do you know about “androgynous or masculine women”?”

”Being popular in girl world meant knowing shit about fashion and watching fashion shows you don’t really care about. Some of that knowledge just doesn’t go away, no matter how hard I try to forget it.”

Trini’s eyebrow raises higher and smirks, seemingly satisfied with the answer the other girl just gave her.

”So tell me this Ms. Fashionista where can I get a decent jean jacket for cheap in this town? Or better yet a thrift shop that buys back?”

“I know a few places for reselling old clothes and a good thrift store, I could take you tomorrow after swimming lessons.”

Trini thinks it over while going through the racks and she doesn’t have anything else to do tomorrow besides homework, what’s the harm in spending time with her fellow female ranger. You know Girl Power and all that shit right?

”Sure why not? I have nothing else to do tomorrow besides shit I don’t want to do.”

”Perfect bring your stuff to my house and we’ll go after dropping Zack off at work.”

Trini nods and start searching through the racks again but stops when something is bothering her about Kim's sudden friendship with Zack.

"How did you and Zack become close?"

"I walked into the restaurant he worked at and kind of annoyed him into hanging out with me."

”Kind of how Zack and I became friends. He didn’t leave me alone until I just didn’t tell him to leave anymore. He’s kind of a leech.”

Kim smirks and continues looking through rack until she finds something that will fit Trini. She told Kim to look for a top for her while she looked for the bottoms. She thought she would be uncomfortable with Kim knowing her chest size but she surprisingly wasn’t when she asked her. Trini is proud of her body, she worked damn hard to get it the way she wanted it and she has no shame. She has a little bit of pudge but that’s unavoidable because she doesn’t change her eating habits. She eats way too many carbs, that’s just her culture man, rice and beans with every meal.

They find a few options for Trini and she gets the one that fits the best. They head to the men's section to look for Zack and Trini gets distracted by the graphic tees. When she looks up Zack and Kim are standing behind her and she's holding five shirts in her hands.

"You good CG? We were calling your name and like nothing."

"I saw a Selena shirt and blacked out I think. How long was I out?"

"Like five minutes, does that happen often?"

"Not really? Only when I get excited or overwhelmed. We should go find Billy so we can go."

"...okay. You getting those shirts?"

"Yeah I needed some new shirts anyway."

When they find Billy he has a cart half full of things that he swears that he has enough money for. Kim is the only one who doesn’t have anything, yet she ends up paying for Zack’s trunks when they check out. She doesn’t even ask him first she just grabs them out of his hands and does it. When they get to the car Trini puts everything in her bag so when she gets home she won’t get hounded by her mother. Zack helps Billy take his things inside when they get to his house and his mother waves at them from the door. Trini isn’t looking but she sees Kim duck down in her seat from the corner of her eye. She doesn’t ask her about it because it isn’t her place to ask. 

When she pulls up to Kim’s place Zack gets out too, his place is nearby and he needs to get to his mother to check on her. Kim at least says goodbye and slips her a twenty for gas, Zack just leaves without saying goodbye. Trini pays no mind to him, gets some gas with the rest of the money her dad gave her, and heads home. Michael hands her another forty dollars because the twins stayed in their room reading the all day and didn’t bother him while he watched the game. Trini nods and goes upstairs to clean her room like she was told to do.

She pulls an old army duffel of her father’s out and starts packing the things still with tags on them in her closet because she’s selling those tomorrow. Once she’s done her closet is one third empty, and half of her drawers are empty too. She tucks the bag under her bed next to her ranger bag and proceeds to actually clean her room. Which is just picking up the clothes on the floor and a bit of sweeping, it’s not an actual mess she just doesn’t have a clothes hamper currently. She tosses all of that in the washing machine and heads back upstairs, from the basement, to make dinner with her dad before her mother gets home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone draw Trini throwing Zack in and out of the pit. I need it.


	13. A Figurative Train Wreck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim tries to teach Zack how to swim, she’s a little distracted though. Also even more shopping because they have shit else to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about please don’t use this chapter to teach yourself how to swim)

Kim waits anxiously for Trini to get to her house. Zack is on his way too but he’s been to her house before and she doesn’t have a stupid schoolgirl crush on him. She doesn't know why she's crushing so hard on her, she barely knows the other girl aside from what she's heard from Zack and her in passing. It's just that the more that Trini opens up the more Kim likes. God this is not the time to be a useless bisexual Kim get it together!

She hops up out of the bed and decides to make breakfast for herself and her friends. Kim, forgetting that the last time she cooked the fire department had to be called, enthusiastically heads towards the kitchen to make eggs and toast. The toast turns out fine but somehow the eggs turn to rubber in the pan. She had the heat too high and left the eggs on for too long so she throws them away. 

Kim's coin starts to vibrate before there's a knock on the front door. Startled slightly she crushes the handle of the pan at the sound without realizing it. She's throws it on the counter next to the charred eggs and rushes to the door. 

"Woah speed racer you're going to tear the door off the hinges. You okay there?"

"Zack! Help me please. For reasons that I don't understand I am freaked out about Trini being in my house, and because of that I almost set my house on fire trying to make breakfast."

"Well good morning to you too. God you are a mess when it comes to crazy girl aren't you?"

Kim nods pitifully and Zack pulls her into a hug. She whines into his pectoral and he chuckles.

"It's going to be okay, your fairy Zackmother is here to help you make a good first impression. You're going to be okay."

"Okay."

Kim's voice is muffled by his shirt but her voice is loud a clear to him. In reality he shouldn't help her, she's competition for Trini's affections and attention. But he has to be honest with himself, he knows he has no chance with her so he might as well be a good guy and help Kim. Because if he's being honest he had a year to try and ask out Trini and failed, his time is up. He needs to let someone else try. 

"Come on let's go see if I can try to save your breakfast. Then we can go from there."

Zack turns her around and pushes her into the house and sits her down at the island counter. He looks at the charcoal eggs and the crushed pan on the counter and laughs loudly before throwing it all away and opening the fridge. He pulls out a bag of bell peppers and some onions and gets to work.

Kim watches Zack cut up the peppers and onions and basically makes three omelettes in the span of twenty minutes to go with her toast. 

"Two questions. One: how did you do that and two: can you teach me?"

"Ancient Chinese Secret. If I tell you I have to kill you."

"You're full of shit. I'm being serious how did you learn how to cook?"

"When my mom started to get sick she couldn't do everything she used to so I picked up the slack. I would tell her to sit at the table and tell everything I needed to do until I got it right. So it actually is an Ancient Chinese Secret."

"Why are you just the door guy at the restaurant, you should be the chef!"

"If I was the chef I would never have time to stay with my mom before work, or training so you should be lucky. I mean I would love to be a chef but if I was a one I wouldn't be here."

"Well hopefully one day you get to be one because this is really good. All of that was in my fridge?"

"Yeah, crazy right? Don't your parents cook?"

"If she's home my mom will cook but I'm not allowed in the kitchen, I get distracted easily. If I keep inviting you over will you cook for me every time?"

Zack laughs again and finishes washing the dishes he used while Kim stuffs her face with the rest of her omelette. Almost as soon and Kim puts her plate in the sink her coin vibrates. Zack looks up too and looks at Kim expectantly. They both know it's Trini.

"You want me to get it?"

"No. No I got it."

"Okay. You got it."

Kim takes a deep breath and walks out of the room with Zack watching. He knows today is going to be a train wreck but he's not going to judge her for it. He's done worse things to get Trini's attention, but Kim doesn't need to do anything. She already has her attention, she just doesn't know it yet. Trini doesn't even know it yet either, and that's what makes this fun. 

Kim opens the door and let's Trini in with a smile. She’s carrying a large duffel bag and a backpack on her back. The duffel bag is probably filled with the clothes she wants to sell later, and it looks full. The bag also looks as big as Trini is tall and Kim finds it cute.

“Where can I put this?”

”Oh uh right in here. Is that your whole closet in there?”

”Half of it, and half of my drawers. My mother needs to stop wasting her money when she buys me clothes, she’ll never get it right. Especially if she doesn't listen to me."

Kim frowns at the size of the bag in relation to what she just heard. She doesn’t want to think about Trini’s relationship with her mother so she decides to change the subject.

"Zack is already here and he made food if you want breakfast."

"Cool has he been here long?"

"About twenty minutes. He's been talking about having a rematch of the fight from yesterday."

"Heh he'd still lose. You been talking shit about me wild child?!"

"Always crazy girl. Always. Want a plate?"

"You know how much I eat of course I do. You know I think we eat more with these powers? My appetite has been through the roof lately."

"So you eat more than you normally do now? Is there any food left in your house?"

"I mean I have to save something for the twins but no not much is left after I eat. I have to eat two dinners most nights."

"Yeah I normally eat something before getting home and then eat again with my mom."

"Luckily I don't have to worry about my parents yet, but I'm probably going to be doing that too Zack."

“You’re here by yourself?”

”Yep my parents travel for work a lot, at least my dad does. I’m kinda used to it by now.”

”My dad was in the army before he retired when my mom had my brothers. I get it.”

“Is that why you moved here?”

”Nah. I started out in a small town in California, and we just kept going east. My mom just likes to make my life hell so we move around whenever I get comfortable in one place.”

”You ever been out of the country?”

”Mexico, but not for his work, just visiting family.”

Trini finishes her plate and Zack cleans up for Kim, washing everything he used though Kim feels a little guilty about it. She should at least wash the dishes when he basically saved her from being a nervous wreck. And making breakfast.

"So, what's the plan?"

"There's a bunch of small lakes around the quarry and the one closest to my house is like only a thirty minute walk. So we can change here and walk up there, get in the water for a few hours, and then drop him off when he has to go to work.”

”Which is at four thirty, so we have five hours. Not including travel, changing in and out of our suits, and showering time.”

“That should be enough time to teach him something. If nothing else he will be able to do a doggie paddle at the end of the day.”

“You judging Kim’s teaching skills?”

”I’m judging your learning skills, blockhead.”

”I’m tired of you picking on me CG, I’m going upstairs to change.”

”Trunks are already in the bathroom!”

Zack walks off, grumbling about Trini teasing him under his breath, and goes up the stairs. He turns around behind Trini and gives her a thumbs up and runs up the stairs to do what he said.

”So what kind of stuff do you have in your duffel?”

”Wanna go through it? I don’t mind, but you got to get it because that bag is heavy.”

”Even with our powers?”

”I’ll say this, no it’s not heavy but I was carrying it for like fifteen minutes so I did feel the weight of it. I might have gone a little overboard.”

Kim walks up to the bag and feels the strain in her muscle as she grabs it and lifts it in the air.

”Woah. Yeah I don’t think this is just a little overboard. Do you have any clothes left at your place?”

”Not really. I feel like I’m trans getting rid of my dead name’s clothes. I just really need to get rid of all of these no matter how, if I get paid for them then perfect.”

”If they don’t take what you have, you can give them to a charity that gives to trans teens or whatever.”

”Lets sell as much as we can and then see about that. I need the money, the less I need to rely on my mother the better.”

Kim looks through the bag and frowns. None of these things look like something Trini would wear. Shirts, tanks, jackets, and shorts of all kinds are in the bag and the farther Kim digs and deeper Kim frowns.

"No jeans?"

"I can always rip the legs up myself or make Zack do it since he can sew."

"We're coming back to the "Zack can sew" thing later. Some of this stuff is brand new, if they don't take any of it its their loss. Can I have some of this?"

"You do need more than just tanks. Is that all you own?"

"I have crew necks for the winter, but no I mostly wear tank tops. My arms are my best feature."

"My abs are mine but you don't see me wearing crop tops every day."

"No one would mind if you did wear crop tops, I definitely wouldn't. Hell I would join you."

"Got one for me to borrow?"

"It might be a little small but I got a few you could wear. Just say the word."

Trini smirks at her and raises her eyebrow at her in intrigue. Zack nods from the stairs, where he hid after he put on his shorts in order to give his girls a moment alone. Yeah they're both his girls, they take care of him and he's going to do the same for them. He was waiting for a lull in the conversation to come back downstairs and now is the perfect time.

"Can you believe there was only like two pairs of black shorts in Target? We should have went to Walmart."

"Excuse me but who was driving yesterday? You were in the car and yet you said absolutely nothing about going to Walmart, so who's fault is that?"

"What took you so long to get dressed by the way? It's a pair of shorts it shouldn't have taken you half an hour."

"Taking selfies. Anyway your turn Trini, bathroom is first door on the left. The one on the right is Kim’s room."

"How many times have you been here dude?"

"Like twice this being the second time. I went right when I got up there because Kim didn't tell me where it was so I got lost. Why got a problem with that Crazy Girl?"

"No I was just wondering. I forgot that you make yourself at home literally everywhere you go."

"It's one of my best qualities. Don't hate, just go get dressed."

Trini rolls her eyes and goes upstairs, but not without punching Zack in the arm as she goes. Zack takes it in pride and bounces on his toes in place, eager to talk to Kim.

"So when's the wedding?"

"Next year on her birthday, February 31st. She's going to wear a suit with a pink tie and flower and it's going to be at the ship. It's going to be beautiful."

"As long as I'm best man in the ceremony I'm down."

Zack smiles and Kim laughs at him for being dumb with her. This is probably going to be the most of their friendship and she is enjoying it. 

"But to be serious we talked about selling like all of her clothes at a thrift store. Does she do that often?"

"She's asked me about thrift stores before because her mom is just not getting the memo. Is that what that army duffel has inside of it?"

"Yeah, some of it still has tags on it. Do you know anything about her relationship with her mom?"

"Trini's quiet because of her mom. The way she sees it why talk if her mom isn't going to listen you know? They're like two opposite sides of a spectrum and can never seem to agree on anything and they fight constantly. Mostly about Trini being quiet and how she dresses and her mom doesn't realize she's making it worse."

"Like when someone tells you to do something you were already going to do and it makes you want to do it less?"

"Yeah kinda. Her mom wants her to open up and she retreats further in. She wants her to dress girly and, first of all what does that even mean, she's a girl no matter what she wears."

"It's gender norm bullshit that makes no sense. Okay stay away from talking about parents or family, got it."

"Her brothers are safe to talk about, and her dad sometimes but not her mom unless she brings it up."

"Ok good to know. Did you actually take selfies up there?"

"Hell no I was sitting on the steps listening to you two talk. Want to take some pictures of me?"

Kim thinks it over and actually nods. 

"Yeah actually, but on my phone you shouldn't be subjected to the terrible photo quality of android phones."

"Is it that bad?"

"I don't know I've never had an Android, I'm sure the old pay as you go phone I got you is terrible tho. Stand up shirt off."

Trini comes back down stairs to a makeshift photoshoot in Kim's living room. The two taller teens turn up towards the stairs as she comes down and she looks at them confused.

"You needed more pictures?"

"The ones on his phone were shitty, selfie-novice over here can't stay still for shit. I'm taking them on my phone and they're so much better."

"Well he does have an android phone."

"They weren't that bad, and it wasn't because of the camera quality."

"Already defending androids, you were born to have an android phone. I'm going to go get dressed because I just realized that I'm still in my pjs. Be right back."

Trini raises her eyebrow again and doesn't realize that she started to smile at Kim and Zack's antics. Zack noticed but Kim didn't as she ran up the stairs proving his point that today is going to be a train wreck. 

"CG why don't we go through this bag of stuff that's bigger than you. You can't take all of this to the store. They're going to take advantage of you and give you a bad deal when they see that you're desperate."

"Fine but only because I want to get my money's worth. Let's take all the stuff still with tags out that's most of it anyway."

Kim doesn't hear anything else as she goes up the stairs to her room. Her door was open slightly but Zack did say he got lost and went in her room. It's clean so she has nothing to worry about but still it's her private area and she wants to keep it that way. She changes into her suit and puts on some other sweats over it. She doesn't take as much time as Zack did but more than Trini did so she's right in the middle. 

She takes a little bit more time getting all her things together in a bag, which she could have done earlier but she was mid bi panic leave her alone. Once she thinks that she has everything Kim takes a deep breath and goes downstairs. The first thing she sees is Trini holding Zack in a choke hold while he laughs. 

"Did he call you short again?"

"His name for me in his phone is Tiny Trini. This was warranted."

"I regret nothing."

"Are you even hurting him?"

"Nope, I'm used to her doing this. My head is nestled right where I want it to be."

Trini takes that as her queue to drop him and he falls to the floor face first.

"Pig. You ready to go?"

"Yeah. Zack you ready to go?"

"I don't like that this is the second time I'm in this position in less than twenty-four hours. I don't have a towel but I should be good."

"You deserve to dry off like a dog."

Kim rolls her eyes and just grabs another towel for him while they argue. When they leave apparently they made some sort of deal because Zack gives Trini a piggyback ride the entire way there. Kim doesn't try to understand their friendship past what she sees, and just decides to call it cute. Trini is holding him by the ears pretending to steer him down the path and it’s adorable. She’s not going to say that out loud, but she thinks it to herself. 

They get to the small lake and Kim realizes that there is no way to ease someone into the water. She only knows the way to the cliff that she dives from and not the bottom where you can walk into the water. 

"So um we have a problem. The lake is down there but we have to jump to get there. Either that or climb down."

Zack moves closer to the drop so he and Trini see what Kim is talking about. The climb seems easy enough to him so he lets Trini down off his shoulders and scales the wall. The two girls watch as Zack slowly disappears down the cliff as he climbs. 

"Wow he's actually good for something, look at that."

"Let's just start climbing."

"Wait couldn't we just jump down?"

"You can if you want to I'll stick to the way I know."

Kim starts to climb down after Zack and she waits for Trini but she jumps over the edge. She watches as she flies through the air and makes the landing on the beach below. The shock of Trini, as cautious as she is, jumping off a forty foot cliff takes a minute to wear off. The more reckless of the three of them, Zack and Kim, didn't even think of that as a safe option yet Trini did. Maybe that's why Zack calls her Crazy Girl, Kim thinks. 

They make their way down and Trini is waiting for them leaned up against a rock. 

"Yeah rock climbing, not my strong suit."

"Is it because of your short limbs?"

"I am going to drown you if you call me short again. Even though you are right, also my fingers are important I need to keep them nice."

Zack turns to Kim and wiggles his eyebrows at Trini's accidental lesbian dirty joke and she snickers at him before stripping down to her suit. Zack looks away but Trini doesn't quick enough and now she can't even blink. Again Zack is the only one that notices this, but now Trini is aware of her reaction to Kim. She doesn't come out of her Kim induced haze until she dives into the water and comes up for air. Zack pretends to not be paying attention by moving Kim's clothes so they won't get wet. Like he said. Train Wreck.

Kim comes up for air and looks at the other two and smiles. 

"Come on we only have a few hours to teach him something about swimming and we're going to need all of it."

"Oh great you're going to start picking on me too. I don't deserve this abuse!"

"Yes you do now get in the water or I'll throw you in."

"You're so abusive."

Kim wades in the water and waits for them to finish arguing and then Trini takes her hoodie off. Now Kim knows that Trini has an amazing figure, she really does. Strong muscle under soft curves that are all in the right places and smooth unblemished tan skin that rivals her own. Kim also knows what the black with gold trim swimsuit she helped pick out looks like, and yet her reaction makes it seem like the opposite. She looses her breath and starts sinking into the lake and stays there until she’s can’t breathe then comes back up. The cold shockes her system back to normal again, or as normal as she can get right now.

She really should have stayed under because watching Trini carry Zack without breaking a sweat is a lot to deal with. Granted she can go that too but it’s probably much hotter watching Trini do it. She swims over to Kim and they balance him between the two of them. 

“Okay Zack first step is learning how to float. You should be able to stand at this height in the water so what I want you to do is lean back slowly and Trini and I will catch you.”

Trini her floating on her stomach with a pair of goggles on and her hair tied up. The word adorable comes into Kim’s mind again but she forces herself to focus on Zack and him not drowning. It takes him a few tries to lay down without freaking out, and Trini has to show him a few times, but he gets it eventually. Kim makes him do it a couple more times, just so he isn’t hesitant when they start moving around. Trini slowly lets go and he floats on his own for a full minute and Kim moves onto the next step.

”Okay now that you can float let’s move around. Most people don’t know this but you don’t really need to move your arms to swim if you’re going in a straight line. Your arms are for direction and your legs are for speed and movement. Trini will demonstrate how to kick properly.”

Trini straightens her legs and only kicks her legs and swims out a few feet away from them. They both watch her legs, a little too closely, and Kim points out the hardest part of swimming.

“The hardest part about this is not bending your knees because that slows you down. You’re always bending your knees and this you don’t have to, you’re not supposed to. Try to get to Trini, and she’ll get you back.”

”By myself?”

”No I’ll help you get halfway there, you have to do the rest.”

She holds Zack up and by his waist to keep him steady as he gets the kicks correct. She holds his arms to his side so he can focus on his legs. She walks him through pointing his feet to get the most out of his kicks and keeping his knees straight because he isn’t getting it just yet. When she lets him go his legs are still wobbly but he gets to Trini well enough on his own. They make him go back and forth multiple times before moving on because practice makes perfect. 

It takes another hour to get his arms together before he can swim by himself. They basically hold his legs together as he practices his stroke. Zack made ten thousand dirty jokes about the word stroke in that hour alone or giggled every time they said the word. Trini punched him at least three times. 

Kim gets out of the water to check the time on her phone and sees that they only have twenty minutes before they have to drive Zack to work. She also has a missed call from her mother but she can call her later when she's at home. 

"Hey we got to head back, it's almost three!"

Kim dries her hair while they swim to shore, Zack in front and Trini close behind in case he falters. Kim's mind decides to slow down time when Trini and Zack come out of the water like something out of Baywatch. Fate just decided that she's going to be a bi mess today and that's just great. She doesn't want to perv on her friends, and while Zack would cracking a joke about it, she doesn't think Trini will. It's not her fault that her friends have superhuman bodies okay blame the power coins. 

On the way back to her house Trini carries Zack and it is impressive as it is weird to look at. It must have been part of their deal, she doesn't really care outside from the way that Trini's muscles flex as she carries him. Zack showers first while they sit in the kitchen.

"You got anything to eat Hart?"

"Nothing that doesn't have to be cooked. I went through most of the snacks during the week. Help yourself to whatever."

She finds a few frozen pizzas and tosses them in the oven to cook. Kim looks at the clothes Trini and Zack left out to see if there is anything she wants. A lot of it brightly colored long sleeve shirts and track shorts and things she can't imagine Trini wearing even when she's just at home. 

"What are you going to wear at home? This is all stuff I would wear at home."

"I did buy some shirts yesterday if you remember, but I have tanks and joggers and shorts. Take whatever you want I have what I need, I don't want to just trash the rest. That would be a waste of money. You don't leave money on the table that's rule number one!"

"Yeah in every mob movie ever made!"

"I watch them with my dad because my mom hates them, they're his favorites. I guess they rubbed off on me."

"Maybe just a little bit. Which one is your favorite?"

"To be completely cliché, it's probably Scarface. I've seen it so many times I can quote it from memory. I think those and heist films are my favorites movies."

"You sure you aren't just an AL Pachino fan?"

"Maybe I'm both you never know. What about you?"

"I think if I see another chick flick I will throw up. I had watch them all the time with the squad and pretend I got the references when I just wanted to watch Bollywood films with my mom."

"Bollywood? What are those like?"

"Like the most extravagant musicals come to life. Like Aladdin if it wasn't animated. They're great, my dad says I'm extra because it's all I used to watch as a kid."

"I can see that."

"Hey! You're not supposed to agree with him!"

"Hey my best friend is Zack! I never said it was a bad thing to be extra. I just love my sarcastic deadpan humor too much to show enthusiasm for anything."

"Yeah that's the reason."

Zack comes downstairs and Trini straightens up where she stands. Kim notices that she started to look anywhere but at her, when they were almost flirting a second ago. Does Trini think she's with Zack? That would explain so much.

"I'm going upstairs to shower. Zack make sure the pizzas don't burn."

Trini scurries out of the room, grabbing her backpack as she goes and Zack looks around confused.

"Did I do something? I mean I know I'm the most extra person alive, apart from you, but that was weird."

"We were almost flirting and then you came downstairs and she ran. I think she thinks we're dating."

"Please, you could only be so lucky! Why do you think she thinks that?"

"I don't know, but it's probably your fault! You're walking around my house like you live here and making me breakfast, of course she thinks we're dating!"

"Hey I made breakfast to help you impress her, you didn't have to tell the truth about who made it! And it's not my fault I had to find the bathroom on my own, you're a terrible host!"

"I am a terrific host how dare you?! You would be lucky to date me, I am a very doting girlfriend! Now get the pizzas out of the oven before they burn."

Zack grumbles to himself while getting the pizzas out to cool. The idea that Trini would think that they're dating is ridiculous but also proves his point that she likes Kim to some degree. She wouldn't be jealous of him otherwise. That gives him a horrible idea, he won't tell Kim about it yet unless he really needs to but he keeps it in his back pocket for later. They decide to not eat until Kim is showered and dressed when Trini comes down, plus the pizzas will be cooled off by then. 

Kim tries not to think about Trini being jealous and it worked...until she got out of the shower. She lasted fifteen minutes, which surprised even her if she's being honest. Trini finds her attractive, that's something she learned today. It's weird learning that there's a possibility that your crush might you back, it makes you change how you act around the person. 

The thing is, Kim doesn't want to have a crush on Trini, she wants to be friends. It's all she ever wanted since that day almost a year ago. Get to know the girl that saved her life, and be her friend like she needed that day. That's all she wants, but Trini had to be all hot and strong and interesting so here she is.

Really she's just horny. It's been awhile since she's last had sex and even if the sex was terrible she got off every once in a while. Maybe she should handle that soon, but she's afraid she might break something. Kim walks to the stairs and hears Zack talking and decides to listen in, instead of going downstairs to eat right away. 

"Crazy girl, do you think I'm dating Kim?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Yeah you are way wrong!"

"I came in to you making her breakfast."

"Because if she cooked, the house would have burned down, and I was cooking for me and you."

"She offered to teach you how to swim?"

"Because she was the only one that noticed I was holding onto you when we went to train."

"You left your wallet in her car, and she bought you a phone."

"It fell out of my pocket when she was driving me home, and she bought me a crappy phone because she felt bad for me for not having one. We're just friends Trini that's it."

"Whatever you say Zack."

"Why do you care so much? You jealous?"

"You wish!"

"Yeah I do wish. But seriously are you?"

"No it's just, you know how long it takes me to open up to people. You just make it seem so easy. That's what I'm jealous of."

Kim goes downstairs after that to eat her pizza and pack up the stuff Trini decided to sell in a much smaller bag then the one she came here with. 

"Are you at the restaurant today, Zack?"

"Yep, working until close like most weekends."

"Is that legal with what they pay you?"

"Probably not, but they were the only ones who would hire me with such a lack of cell phone and permanent address."

"Well next time you fill out an application you can put my address down. My parents are never here they won't notice."

Zack raises his eyebrow at her and nods, understanding what she's trying to do for him. The girls drop him off and Kim keeps going to the exchange store she loves that gives the best deals. It's where she got her leather vest, they know her by name here. Trini looks through the racks while Kim waves over a clerk she knows. 

"Kim it's been a while how have are you?"

"I'm good all things considered, Gia. How are you?"

"I'm amazing as always. Who's your friend?"

"This is Trini, she's looking to sell and maybe buy. Trini this is Gia."

"Nice to meet you. How does all this work?"

"Well if you are looking to sell, you get your clothes appraised based on the quality of them, the nicer the better. If you want you can trade your clothes for clothes already in the store for equal or lesser value, but most people just opt out of that and take the cash."

”So if it still had the tag on it how much would I get for it?”

”Whatever the tag says it cost. Why don’t we take a look at what you brought and we will go from there?”

”Sounds great.”

Trini's clothes come out to almost two hundred dollars in profits and she decides to just take the money and come back another time to shop now that she knows where one is. Gia pulls Kim aside as they're leaving and whispers in her ear.

"She's cute Kim."

"I know right?"

"I just want to pick her up and carry her in my pocket. I approve."

Kim smiles walks out after Trini with a promise to text her later. Gia is an old cheer friend that graduated before her. They became friends being the only two queer girls in the squad, Gia was kinda like her mentor her freshman year. The older girl gave her a ton of advice about dealing with Locker Room looks and how to deal with a slightly homophobic team. She considers Gia a great friend even though Kim sometimes forgets about her because she doesn't see her everyday at school. 

"Where to now?"

"Back to your house I gotta get home soon. Homework will still be there if we don't save the world."

"If you need a quiet place to study away from your brothers, we can work on that Biology assignment together."

"I already finished mine, but I'll take you up on that one day Kim."

Kim smiles and drives them back to her place. She hands Trini the aux cord and she smirks as she plays something in spanish. Trini's music isn't all death metal like Zack thinks, but it's more alternative if she had to describe it with one word. The death metal is still in there but she skips the songs that come up. After the last skip Kim gets curious about her taste in music.

"Why do you listen to death metal?"

"The truth?"

"Yeah."

"To piss off my mom. I either play it at home to drown her out, or I play it to block out all noise when I meditate. It calms me when I'm feeling angry more than anything."

"Do you do everything to piss off your mom?"

"Either that or make my Aunt Thuy proud. She raised me more than my mother did, all my mother did was yell at me and call it love."

"What was Aunt Thuy like?"

"Amazing. She was the one to get me into martial arts and yoga. I was a wild kid and while my mom yelled at me to behave, Aunt Thuy actually taught me how."

"How did she pass? I could tell by the way you talk about her that she passed away."

"Drunk driver hit her day after her birthday. I had a rough time after that."

"I'm sorry to hear that she sounded important to you."

"She is, which is why I still do the yoga and martial arts, so I can feel close to her."

"I'm sure she's watching over you right now and whenever we train. She'd be proud of you."

"Thanks Kim."

The rest of the car ride is quiet but comfortable. Kim doesn't want to push Trini to talk any more, and Trini doesn't really have anything else to add to keep the conversation going. Trini focuses back on her phone to keep the music going but she's smiling at her efforts of opening up with Kim. Kim is also smiling at the fact that Trini actually opened up to her, so they both count that as a win.

Trini leaves the clothes at Kim’s insisting but takes the duffle bag with her when she leaves. Kim moves them off the table and into the guest room so she won't have to move them later. She does actually finish her homework after that and eats two TV dinners while watching an old season of Orphan Black. 

She writes all this down in the therapy journal in bed, pointing out her highs and lows for the day and what time she went to bed. She falls asleep right after she closes her journal and stays asleep for the whole night until her alarm goes off in the morning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwww Kim had a good day...that won't last long. See you next chapter!


	14. Nothing and Yet Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini isn’t alone anymore...but does she really want that after all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually a quick update wow. Enjoy (I changed the way different languages are seen for this chapter so it's bold and italics this time)

Trini slams her locker with as much force as she allows herself to use in public. Yesterday was a good day, mainly because it was Sunday and she made like two hundred and fifty bucks for doing nothing, but still a good day. Today hasn’t even started yet and it sucks. She woke up late and had to eat breakfast with her mother instead of buying something on the way to school, she couldn't find her favorite beanie anywhere so she's hat-less today, and to top it off her mother got on her case about her new comic books at the breakfast table. 

She couldn't get out of the house fast enough, she almost left her brothers she was trying to leave that quickly. If Billy noticed her bad mood he didn't question her on it, he just started talking about the English homework and let her fume. 

"Hey."

Trini looks over at Jason and sighs before closing her locker and beginning to walk to the library for study hall/free period that they both have. 

"Hey."

"You okay? That was a hard slam."

"My mother."

"Sounds like my dad yesterday. Want to talk about it?" 

"...Not really. Thanks tho."

"No problem I'm always here if you want to talk. What did you do after training?"

"Saturday I went to target and then home. Sunday I taught Zack how to swim and went to a thrift store with Kim to get rid of some stuff I don't wear."

"So does that mean you won't have to go get him and carry him down to the ship every day?"

"You noticed?"

"Not at first but I figured it out last Saturday. How long have you two known each other?"

"Bout a year, I met him when I first moved here. He's actually the first person I met here."

"You two must be close."

"Kinda. He's a leech that got attached to the first person he saw."

"Could be worse."

"I guess...anyway what about you? Community service?"

"On Saturday then Sunday was the weekly berating from my father and catching up on homework with Billy. He started on me as I was walking towards the door."

"Whoo yikes your dad does sound like my mom. She dug into me when I sat down at the table for breakfast."

Jason opens the door to the library for her and Trini enters with a smirk and a nod. She pulls out her phone to check the time to make sure they weren't late, so Jason signs the sign-in sheet first. Trini signs in after him, full name. She has no idea if Jason is looking or not but it's not a big deal, none of the other Rangers know her last name. Which is a little weird but you don't introduce yourself with your full name anymore this isn't the 50s. Also it would be awkward if they asked, unless it was Billy because it would be Billy, so she just let's it ride. 

Trini walks through the stacks not really looking for anything, but not wanting to sit down yet. She has her comics in her bag, and some homework to do, she just feels a little uncomfortable and restless. Like someone is watching her but she can't see them whenever she turns around. It's a weird feeling and it causes her to bump into another kid in a green varsity jacket not unlike her own. 

"Oh sorry. Excuse me."

"It's cool."

Trini goes to sit down after that, shaking herself out of the feeling. Jason looks up at the sound of her sitting and goes back to his work after acknowledging her presence. They both work separately and silently until about forty minutes into the period when Jason goes to the bathroom and that feeling of being watched comes back. It creeps up her spine and settles in the back of her neck like she's being held in a light choke hold. She shrugs out of her dirty gold jacket and pulls at the collar of her shirt a bit to get some air, but the feeling remains.

When Jason comes back she excuses herself to go to the bathroom, when really she's just getting some air. She rubs her eyes and looks at herself in the mirror. Something green flashes across her eyes and a voice, foregin to her and yet familiar somehow, creeps in the back of her mind.

" _My Yellow_."

At that point she jumps back from the mirror, startled, and hits the closed stall door behind her. It breaks off the hinges upon her impact and she looks around disoriented for a moment before quickly leaving the bathroom.

" _You can't run where I can't follow, yellow."_

Suddenly Trini stops in her tracks and pulls out her power coin and flips it around in her hands. It's still the same bright and vibrant  yellow it's always been wrapped in a gold setting, so she puts it away. The voice is a voice that seems familiar but not to her, like she has someone else's memories in her head. She wonders if this has anything to do with being a ranger and makes a note to ask Zordon about the yellow ranger from his team and if this is normal to hear memories and thoughts from other members of her team. For now she doesn't want to be alone because the other presence only appears when she is, so she goes back to class. 

Jason is still there, this time reading, and he looks up briefly when she sits down. She doesn't pay him any mind and tries to finish her math for next period. She doesn't want to be alone with that voice and being around the other rangers seems to keep it at bay. So she decides to test that theory.

"Want to eat lunch together?"

Jason looks up at Trini as he begins to pack his things. The period is almost over and there's one more until lunch but she doesn't share her next class with him. She has math next and she normally eats with Billy, but why not just eat as a group. That voice in the back of her head is quiet around Jason, maybe it will go away completely around all the other rangers.

"I normally eat with Billy or alone and we all have lunch the same period anyway. If you say no that's cool too I was just wondering. Why eat alone if we don't have to?"

"I've been eating with Kim for the last week but you can join us, Billy too, if you want. I wouldn't mind and I'm sure Kim won't either."

"Cool. Cool I'll see you at lunch then and I'll tell Billy too."

The bell rings right after that and as soon she and Jason part ways the presence returns to her side like a shadow. It sits there during class on her shoulder like a pet bird, a weighted hand that she can't see or move. The voice doesn't come back while she's in class but Trini can still hear it's raspy ethereal tone in the back of her head. It has something to do with her being the yellow ranger, and while she's never heard Rita Repulsa's voice before she can guess what it sounds like now. 

The weight on the shoulder does fade again around Billy and the other rangers at lunch. Billy is talking about a documentary he watched with his mother on Netflix last night and Kim has pulled out her phone to look it up. It sounds pretty interesting but she doesn't has an account and she says so out loud.

"You want to use my login info? I don't mind."

"Yeah sure Kim. What is it?"

"Give me your phone I'll put it in and make you a page. Jason you want one too?"

"Uh yeah sure, thanks Kim."

They hand over their phones and Trini remembers to be polite after hearing Jason say thank you. Kim starts typing quickly on her own phone not looking up for a moment then switches to Trini's and finally Jason's phone. 

"Yeah thanks Kim. Make one for Zack too so he doesn't feel left out."

"Got it. Here Trini, yours is done. It's the yellow one with the T when you login."

Trini looks down at her phone and there is all of Netflix for her to choose from with the yellow icon with a T. She also has a text from Kim that has the login information in it. Say goodbye to all her personal training time. Billy starts talking about show recommendations to Jason and then he turns to Trini.

"If you need any recommendations for what to watch I can give you a few shows to get started. You might like one day at a time Trini, it's a comedy about a Cuban family and their struggles in America. I enjoy it despite not understanding most of the Spanish jokes."

She types in the name Billy says and adds it to her list to check it out later when she's at home. It has Latin icon Rita Moreno in it so she's definitely interested in it. 

"I love that Netflix has a ton of foreign movies, I watch the Bollywood ones to have something to talk about with my cousins still in India. Jason you might like Stranger Things I hear it's really good."

"It is good. You don't watch it Kimberly?"

"I could never really get into sci-fi shows or movies. It's not my thing."

"Even though we're basically living in one."

They all nod at Trini's statement then Billy starts up about if they want his Hulu information he will happily share it with them like Kim shared her Netflix login. They take him up on his offer but the bell rings before he can do it, so he'll just make the pages and send them the login info after training. 

The presence doesn't come back for the rest of the school day until she's walking her brothers home. She's going to be watching Pearl again today after training, Jason had asked her during P.E.. Also Pearl apparently really likes her and the twins and they ate lunch together for the rest of that week and today. The weight doesn't show up at her shoulder but around her waist as she walks, like a significant other pulling her into their side. The hold isn't uncomfortably tight, like in the library but it's still weird. Like last time, she doesn't want to pull away but at the same time she does. Like the two sides of her brain are fighting each other on what she should do.

_"I've missed you my Yellow. So much time to make up."_

When she gets to the ship Zack is actually already there and he looks upset. She has more important things to do right now, like talk to Zordon about the relationship between the past Yellow Ranger and Rita, so she will talk to him later.

"Zordon, I have a question."

The pixelated head of Zordon comes through the wall and into view of Trini. His eyes blink and he tilts his head down to speak to her.

"Trini, what do you wish to know?"

"What can you tell me about the yellow ranger from your team?"

"I didn't expect to have this question so soon but she was the first to connect to the morphing grid too. When you are connected to the morphing grid you have access to the memories of all the past rangers of your color and become in tune to your fellow rangers. She was a strong fighter who tried to hide her emotions behind training and fighting. She was a great listener and teammate. She was my second and was to become the leader if I ever fell." 

Trini takes in the information that she can know feeling her teammates emotions and see the memories of beings for eons ago quickly so she can ask what she needs to know. She can always follow up on that another day.

"What was her relationship with Rita like?"

"Before Rita was evil they were in love. She had to make the ultimate decision of love vs the rest of the world. Rita would have spared her life if she joined her and when she stayed on the side of good, she died from a broken heart more than anything Rita threw at us."

"I think Rita is talking to me or trying to. I kept hearing a voice in my head all day that called me "my yellow". I think she thinks I'm her lover because I'm the yellow ranger now, and I have the former yellow's memories."

"You must ignore the voice Trini. She will try to turn you to her side. You must resist her calling out to you. You have the memories of the last yellow ranger because of the morphing grid and she will use those memories to hurt you and your team."

"I'll try."

"It was good that you told me about this Trini, your connection to Rita is what will take her down."

Training is tough today. Zack doesn't want to do anything Jason tells him to do and they almost start fighting halfway through. Billy breaks it up, surprising everyone with morphing into his armor. Zordon ends training after that, calling them all unfocused and fighting over childish things. 

Trini never got to talk to Zack after that because he was already gone by the time she came up from the pit. She tried to look for him in the quarry, but assumed he went home to get ready for work. She does send him a text offering him space or if he wants to talk he knows where she is. Billy tries to explain what it was like to morph and what he was thinking about in that moment on the walk home.

"The weird thing was that I wasn't thinking Trini I just didn't want my two friends to fight. We're supposed to be a team and teammates don't fight, at least they aren't supposed to."

"Yeah at least not fist fighting. I think something is wrong with Zack, he didn't seem like himself at training."

"He was more like you or Jason."

"Yeah...he was. I tried to talk to him afterwards but he was already gone. I hope he's okay."

"Me too."

Zack's behavior distracts her long enough that she forgets that she's supposed to watching Pearl for Jason. She watches the kids and does her own homework until itsi time for Jason to pick her up. He's late though and Trini's father is looking at her from the table wondering what her next move is.

"Did you call him?"

"He's at work and won't answer."

"Well he's only at the community center, go down there and meet him." 

Trini decides to do that and take Pearl with her. When they get there the lady at the desk tells her that they put him in the local PFLAG meeting and that it is probably where he is if he's still here. He is in there, but he's sitting in the share circle talking. She hasn't walked in the room yet, but she can hear him talking and decides to wait until he's done.

"I guess the only reason I haven't come out to my dad, despite my mom and sister knowing, is that he's been so hard on me since I messed up my knee. Our relationship is already a mess and I just fear that I'm going to make it worse by telling him I like girls and guys. I've known for a while that I'm bisexual I'm just scared I guess."

"There's nothing wrong with being afraid, if you weren't it wouldn't be important to you. You don't have to come out to him if it's going to be harmful to your wellbeing Jason."

"Thank you Dr. Cranston."

Jason looks up suddenly, as if he finally felt his coin vibrate in his pocket, and sees her with Pearl. He stands and walks over, picking up Pearl when he gets close enough.

"I guess I lost track of time huh?"

"A little bit yeah. It's cool tho, looks like you needed that."

"Yeah, I did. I'll take her off your hands while I get my stuff. Did you have fun with Trini and her brothers Pearl?"

Pearl nods as Jason walks them away as they continue to talk. Trini looks into the room and goes to get a cup of water but is stopped by Dr. Cranston.

"Snacks are for members only I'm sorry. Unless you would like to sit in for a few minutes I can't let you take anything."

Trini turns to the doctor and god she can see the resemblance between her and Billy, he looks just like her. She sits in the closest chair to her, next to someone her age wearing a green hoodie that she doesn't pay attention to, and sips at the water she had in her hand. 

"What's your name?"

"It's Trini. I'm friends with your son."

Once the name connects in her mind Candace smiles a little wider at the girl.

"He's told me about you. If you would like to share you can. I don't force anyone to talk in here."

Trini looks around the room, at seeing the unfamiliar faces of people like her calms her nerves enough to say something. Not the full story but some of it.

"Not much to share, known I wasn't straight since I was twelve and I'm not out to my family. I have a bag filled with all the loose change and birthday money I've ever saved since then and some essentials incase my mom becomes outwardly homophobic. Like I said not much to share. It's almost cliche when you think about it."

"Your father, siblings? How do they feel?"

"My dad has probably figured it out by now and he seems to not care, we haven't really talked about it. My little brothers are about ten and I haven't really talked to them either. I'm not worried about them, it's just...her."

"Maybe that's something you can do to figure out if you will need to spend that money or not. I wouldn't count them out just yet." 

Trini nods and subtly wipes a small tear. She didn't think talking about it would feel so good, but here she is in front of people she'll probably never see again aside from Dr. Cranston talking about her sexuality. She gets what all those coming out movies are about now. The coin vibrates and Trini stands and goes to leave but Dr. Cranston pulls her aside.

"Trini, we meet every other Monday, and Wednesdays during June. We're here if you need to talk, or if you just want to listen."

She nods and walks out to meet Jason who is walking down the hall towards her. Pearl now has a bag of chips she's eating and a bunch of stickers on her arms. They both have huge smiles on their faces, make Trini smile a bit too.

"Sorry about the wait the older ladies in the back kinda fell in love with Pearl and gave her a bunch of free stuff."

"It's fine, Dr. Cranston let me sit in the room and listen while I waited."

"I can't believe Billy's mom runs the town's PFLAG and there are enough people in town for it to exist. Does that mean Billy is gay?"

"Probably. Or maybe she's just being a good ally. You know she's a therapist right? Some of them are probably her patients or their parents."

"I didn't think about that. That would actually be smart because I know she does family and youth therapy."

"Let's go hone before the little eats all the candy in her pocket n hs a sugar rush."

Pearl giggles as Trini pokes her in the stomach and then hands her a blue lollipop which she instantly opens with a wink. She drives the Scott siblings home and drives past the restaurant where Zack works to maybe get a chance to talk to him, but he isn't there. She starts to worry and sends him another text before the light turns green.

**_TinyGirl:_**   _just want to make sure youre okay after training just drove past the restaurant and didnt see you_

_**WildChild** _ _**:** im fine and I dont work there anymore_

**_TinyGirl:_ ** _what do you mean you dont work there anymore???_

Zack doesn't answer after that and she sighs in frustration and gets out of the car and goes inside. She didn't text and drive by the way, she drove home in the time it too him to respond to her. Which actually tells her something is really wrong with Zack because he normally texts a mile a minute. She goes straight up to her room tossing her dad's keys on the table as she passes. Trini lays flat on her back, bouncing back up a bit from the force of her impact and takes another deep breath. Finally she can breathe.

" _Finally we're alone my love. I started to think you were avoiding me."_

Trini sits back up in fear for a moment, her worry for Zack making her forget the fact that a part of Rita lives in the back of her mind. It didn't help that "she" was quiet the last few hours so she kinda forgot she was there. She tries to ignore it while she finishes up homework but it's inside her head, she can't just put on her headphones and block it out. She gets about an hour into reading the same page over and over before she gives up and just starts doing pushups for fun.

" _You're so strong my love, together we can take over the world."_

Her phone vibrates around pushup number two hundred and fifteen and Trini stands to see who it is. 

**_WildChild:_** im ready to talk now i need help

Trini reads the words and instantly grabs her hoodie and jacket and jumps out of the window to find Zack. She's only wearing a sports bra and sweats but Zack needs her so here she is. She doesn't even get halfway to his house when her coin vibrates on a random street. She starts to think the worst when she looks up and sees Zack sitting on a street light.

"CRAZY GIRL YOU CAME!"

And he's Drunk. 

"What are you doing up there Zack?"

"I was feeling really sad and I remembered that you said being high up in the air makes you feel better so I decided to try that. It didn't really work so I went and bought some beer and now it works!"

Trini resists the urge to facepalm and settles for rolling her eyes since he can't see it. He's swaying back and forth a little bit and she worries for his safety. He can still hurt himself he's not superman.

"Zack get down from there before you hurt yourself."

"Nope you gotta come here to get me down because I'll probably hurt myself anyway."

"How did you even get up there?"

He shrugs, beer bottle to his lips and she hears a drunken chuckle leave his lips.

"Jumped."

"Of course you did. Why didn't I think of that?"

Trini makes a running leap, catches the light where he's sitting, and pulls herself up to sit next to him. He offers her a beer and she takes one against her better judgment. If you had someone hellbent on destroying the world you would drink too don't judge. 

"This is you last one Zack, and then I'm going to sit with you until you sober up. Then we're going to talk about why you quit your job."

Zack nods, moving his body so much he's starts to lose his balance but Trini grabs him. He holds his half empty bottle out to her and she cheers with him, making him smile. He finishes his first and he lays his head on her shoulder as she drinks hers. She sips slowly, hoping that the effects of the alcohol are short term like when they get hurt. 

After about forty minutes, since Trini sat down, Zack starts talking. 

“There were some guys that came into the restaurant yesterday, talking loud and being obnoxious and shit. I ignored them because they hadn’t ordered yet. Then one of them comes up to the counter and asks is there any dog on the menu. I didn’t even get to answer before he started talking in an exaggerated chinese accent asking if I could understand him better that way. I was so angry I couldn’t even respond to his racist comments I just said if he wasn’t going to order they would have to leave. After they left I was just so angry. Not even at the racism, but at the fact that I couldn't say anything back."

"Is that why you didn't listen to Jason at training, because he reminded you of those guys?"

"Sort of. Only one of us is white, how come he gets to be the leader? Because he just happened to have the red power coin? What if I wanted to be in charge or if you did?"

"I don't want to be in charge and neither do you, but I get what you're trying to say. I think it's just a coincidence and Jason isn't like those guys anyway."

"I know he isn't I was just in my head. Anyway I quit because that job sucked and it didn't pay enough anyway, that was just weirdly well timed. And you're right I don't really want to lead the team, you're doing a good job and Jason is alright."

"You're an ass. Don't worry me like that again I thought you were hurt or some shit."

"Aww you care about me! Does it hurt showing your emotions like this?"

"Yes actually, you should give me those last two beers for the pain you've caused me."

"Take them, it took like two six packs to get that drunk and beer is not something you drink for the taste."

"Let's get down from here so you can go home. You know your mom can't sleep unless you're home too."

Zack nods and scooches to the end of the arm holding the light where they're sitting and fireman pole slides to the ground. Trini looks for a moment before standing and walking to the end of the arm and fireman sliding to the ground as well. 

"There's a bus stop at the corner that goes past your house. You should get on it I'll be fine getting home." 

"I don't have any money on me I was about to go to bed when you texted."

Zack looks in his pockets for any cash and doesn't find any and then he looks around for a moment and pulls her closer to the bus. There was one parked that she didn't see because her eyes are tired from wearing her contacts for so long. By now she would have them out and be wearing her glasses in bed but Zack needed her. 

"Come on you're getting a free ride."

"How?"

"Just like I ride the trains every morning. Climb up, I'll help you."

"You want me to sit on top of a bus and ride it until I get home."

"...Yeah obviously now hurry up before it leaves."

Trini rolls her eyes and starts climbing up the bus with Zack's helpful boost. She sits down right as it starts to rain, not much just a drizzle, but Trini pulls her hood up all the same. Zack watches as the bus pulls away and he makes sure it's far enough away before walking to the trailer park. He texts her after he gets in and checks on his mother to see if she's sleeping. 

" ** _Goodnight Zackary._ "**

She seems to be asleep but when he came into the room she spoke to him in Mandarin. She always seems to know what is going on with him, even when he doesn't say anything. It wouldn't surprise him if she knew about his powers without him telling her. It's not breaking the rules if she just knew, he just can't confirm it.

_**"Goodnight mom. I love you."** _

He kisses her on the forehead and leaves to go to sleep in his room. Trini made sure to text him that she made it home okay too. He knows something is bothering her, she wouldn't have had a beer with him if she was fine. Whatever it is he knows that she can get through it, his best friend is the strongest person he knows. 

As Zack tucks himself in for bed, Trini is just climbing in her bedroom from the window she left open in her haste. She strips down and tries to sleep but as soon as she closes her eyes visions of the past yellow ranger and Rita together before what she assumes is the last battle before she died flood her mind. She doesn't know who is showing her this but she sees Rita pleading with the ranger and then watches her walk away angrily. The vision stays with the yellow ranger and she hears another voice, different than Rita's but still has that ethereal quality because it's in her mind.

" _Defeat her Trini only you can truly destroy her like I wasn't strong enough to do."_

Trini looks at the yellow ranger and feels like they're looking right at her and she feels herself reaching out to talk to them even though they probably won't respond. 

_"But how do I do that I can't even morph into my armor yet!"_

To her surprise they speak back to her and she hears the voice in her mind again. Loud and clear as if it's her own thoughts.

_"It's not about the armor the power is in you."_

Trini gasps as she wakes up sweating. She looks at the clock as it shows one in the morning. She's afraid to close her eyes again because next time she'll be visited by Rita and not the past yellow ranger. She tries to sleep again but she's too anxious, so she decides to work out until she is physically exhausted and passes out into a dreamless sleep. Even still Rita's voice rings out in her mind right as she closes her eyes to sleep around three. 

_"Sweet dreams my yellow love."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for a filler chapter( that Rita shit was NOT planned when I started this chapter I swear) Gonna be participating in Trimberly week next month so be on the lookout for my stories and have a safe and happy Pride Month!


	15. Skeletons in the Closet of my Childhood Bedroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kim was having an okay day, and then she got to biology and then it got better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost over...I'm actually kinda sad about it

Kim yawns into her Krispy Kreme coffee as she walks into the school building. She actually got to sleep before midnight last night yet somehow she feels more tired than when she goes to sleep at three a.m. She doesn't know if Wednesday is an emotion but she's feeling very Wednesday today which is weird because it's Tuesday. She feels tired, run down, and just wants it to be Friday already. 

Her locker has gotten more colorful and at this point she might be desensitized to it now. She's seen the "kill yourself" and "go back to India ISIS" already, which doesn't make sense but whatever, it doesn't even hurt. She isn't even Muslim, or middle eastern, why would she be a part of ISIS? Kim has better things to do than make sense of bullying taunts that look like that were made with an online racial slur generator. She rolls her eyes and just puts the things that she doesn't need away and continues on with her day. 

Classes seem to crawl as slowly as they can to Kim, but that could also be her exhaustion talking. After first period, the coffee starts to kick in and she feels fine for the rest of the day until lunch. She passes by Billy who is digging through his locker for something so she decides to stop and wait for him. 

"Billy, I'm on the other side of your locker door and when you find whatever you're looking for we can walk to lunch together."

He stands upright suddenly and smiles at her in greeting. 

"Kimberly hi, could you hold this?"

He pushes a binder into her hands then quickly goes back to his locker and she holds it like he asked her to.

"What are you looking for?"

"Another binder exactly like that one, it's for Trini. She wants to borrow my Spider-man comics to read with her brothers and my Young Avengers books for herself and they weren't at home. This was the next logical place to look."

"This entire binder is just comic books?"

"Well comics and the plastic that I bought to protect them. There you are Miles, okay we can go to lunch now."

He closes his locker and takes the binder from her so now he's carrying two large portfolio style binders, one under each arm. They go to the table Trini and Jason are sitting at first to put the binders down then get their food. Once they sit down for real Trini is flipping through one of the binders with a look of wonder and joy on her face.

"You weren't kidding about having every issue, Billy this is perfect thank you. I'm pretty sure this will make you the twins favorite person ever now."

"I told you all you had to do was ask and I'd let you borrow them. I was finished with them anyway."

"Still, thank you."

Kim watches Trini yawn before putting the binders on the seat next to her. It's the third time she's yawned during lunch and Kim knows what it's like to be short a few hours on sleep so she can recognize that in Trini. She doesn't make a comment on it but she slips her the can of energy drink she had in her bag. She buys them by the case because the mid-day slump is real. Trini looks up at her and smiles slightly with a nod before taking it. 

In Biology Kim is surprised when Trini sits in front of her, like directly in front of her.  Normally she sits off to the side towards the front but Kim again doesn't ask her about it. She has a precarious relationship with the other female ranger and she doesn't want to tip it into the wrong direction by pushing. 

"Alright class I would like you all to partner up and start the experiment. You will have homework on the assignment that you will have to do together so pick someone you can work with."

Trini moves to sit next to her without even asking and when she gives her a look Trini shrugs.

"I mean I would rather not have to explain to someone that I can't meet up because I have to train to save the world. This way you can just come over after training and we can knock this out. Besides I think we work well together, or we can."

"Fair point I'll go get the materials we need so we can get started."

They work together at a quick pace, splitting the tasks up evenly between the two of them, and they finish twenty minutes to spare so the teacher let's them leave because it's the last class of the day. Kim goes towards her locker and sees two of Ty's old friends writing on it. 

"HEY!"

"Shit, come on dude I like my teeth in my mouth!"

The two dudebros run when they hear her and Kim just sighs.

"They put his stupid tooth back why does everyone chose to forget that part?"

She shakes her head and goes to open her locker and puts her stuff away so she can go home. The new additions to her locker are a skeleton in a cheer skirt and a nice haircut comment. The skeleton hurts more than it should. She used to have bad body image issues, she never felt skinny enough to fit in with the other cheerleaders. She got to a point where she only ate enough to not pass out the next day of dehydration. You could see her ribs it was that bad. It's one of the first things she talked about in therapy because even though she knew it was unhealthy she didn't know how to stop the terrible habit.

Dr. Cranston sent her to a nutritionist that actually went through something similar and they came up with a plan to get her back to a healthy weight without eating junk food. It took her three months to get on good terms with her body and with food and one hastily drawn skeleton, that's supposed to be her, could ruin her progress. She's on the verge of tears staring at the locker door and she doesn't know how long she's been standing here.

She doesn't see Trini come up to her, or feel her coin vibrate, but suddenly Trini is there and tearing the locker door off it's hinges. She jumps back in shock, staring at Trini like she has two heads but Trini looks calm like she isn't destroying school property.

"Take your stuff out."

"What?"

"Take it."

Still confused Kim grabs her bag and leather vest out of the locker and just watches Trini. 

"You're going to get detention if you get caught."

Trini ignores her and starts walking with the door in hand making Kim almost run after her with her things in hand.

"You don't need a locker, come on."

Trini walks forward some more and throws the locker door into a classroom that the door was open thinking the room was empty.

"Hey!"

"Run!"

The two girls run for the doors as fast as humanly possible, if they got caught, Saturday detention will have one more ranger attending. They make it all the way to Kim's jeep before they stop running and Trini starts laughing breathlessly while Kim catches her breath. Slowly Kim starts to laugh too because Trini’s laugh is infectious and now they're both laughing and out of breath. Kim straightens up first and just looks at Trini for a moment. 

"Why did you do that?"

"Because you were about to cry and you shouldn't cry because of some shitty sayings that aren't even spelled correctly."

"I deserve it tho -"

"Not if it's hurting you like that. Be a glutton for punishment sure, but not to the point of tears in the middle of the hallway."

Kim looks at Trini, really looks at her and she sees the girl from the roof all those weeks ago. 

"How do you keep doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Saving me. First on the roof and now today, how do you keep doing it?"

"I'm not doing anything special, I just care about other people."

There's something Trini isn't telling her, something deep and dark and too much for this current conversation, so Kim let's the urge to press fall to the wayside. 

"You want to go get some food before you get your brothers?"

"I know a place, you drive."

"Of course I'll drive, it's my car!"

Trini directs her to a burger place that she said she went to before with Billy on Saturday and they eat in Kim’s car on the way to pick up the twins. Trini starts to unbuckle her seatbelt when they pull up as kids start to walk out of the school building. 

"I'll be right back."

Kim watches her walk off and just sips at her soda while she waits for her to come back. About six or so minutes later, Trini comes back with her brothers one in each arm. They're giggling and Trini is smiling brightly at them and Kim's heart literally quakes in her chest. 

"Guys this is my friend Kim she's in my study group and she's coming over to do homework while you two do yours with Pearl. Say hi."

The two boys shyly wave at her and Kim smiles back to make them more comfortable. Trini gets them situated in the back seat, seatbelts and all, before getting back in herself so Kim can leave. 

"Do you know where Billy lives?"

"Yeah...why?"

"I live on that block I'll tell you where my house is. Just go in that general direction."

"Okay. With all this driving around I've been doing, I should work for Uber or something."

"Or just charge Jason for every time you drive him somewhere."

"At least gas money."

At the mention of Gas money Trini pulls out a ten dollar bill and puts it in the empty cup holder. Kim glances at it out of the corner of her eye before focusing back on the road

"That wasn't a fishing line, you didn't have to do that."

Trini doesn't even acknowledge her and pulls out another ten dollar bill and puts it in the cup holder without a word. Kim just looks at it for a moment and continues driving once the light turns green. 

"It's right up here, on the left."

Kim follows the direction and parks in front of a two story home, it's not as big as her house but it's nice. 

"Nice house."

"Thanks, we've only been here for a year so the twins haven't ruined it yet. Let me take them inside and get them situated, then we can go."

"Don't forget the binders, they're in the trunk with your bag."

Trini and the boys head inside and after ten minutes she comes back out with the clear bag that she takes to training. 

"Okay let's go."

"Why do you even have a clear bookbag any way?"

"We were living in Chicago and they were mandatory by the school I was attending to stop students from bringing in weapons." 

"I'm sorry what?"

"Some kid brought a pocket knife to school one day and then the next school year they were passing out these."

"Is Chicago really that terrible?"

"Nah it's just a terrible school system that doesn't know what to do with the only okay kids so they fall through the cracks. Everyone is just sort of lost out there and they lean towards violence as an answer."

Kim is silent for a moment as she drives away from the house and there isn't much to say to continue the conversation that she can really think of.

"Wow. You must of liked it there."

"It's in my top three, I definitely want to go back there one day when I'm older."

"What are the other two?"

"San Antonio and Inglewood, mainly for my family being close."

"So where were you born?"

"Texas, the twins were born in California."

"See people automatically see my skin and think I was born in Asia somewhere but I was born in Seattle and moved here when I was ten. My mother was born in England and it's my grandparents that were from India."

"Did you grow up with a British accent?"

"Did you grow up with a southern drawl?"

They stare each other down in the driveway of Kim's house to see which one of them will break first. Kim does first because Trini is used to stare downs with her siblings and Zack. Trini laughs and gets out of the car to head to the pit and Kim goes to grab her bag and follow. She stops short when she looks down and sees her hand is covered in pink metal. She moves her hand a little bit and sure enough it's there on her skin and moves when she does. 

"What the hell? Trini come here!"

Trini hears her and walks back slowly as Kim starts flexing her fingers to see if her suspicion is correct and that this is their armor. Trini pokes her head through the car window to see what Kim is freaked about. Kim holds up her hand to show Trini and she steps back remembering what happened when the boys touched Billy and his armor faded back into his skin.

"What's up Kim. Woah! You morphed?! How?! When?!"

"I don't know! We were just talking and when I went to grab my bag I saw my hand and the armor was just there! What does this mean?! Check your hands!"

Trini starts checking her whole body and while it's not her hands, her left foot is covered in gold armor. She jumps about ten feet in the air landing in a seated position in the grass of Kim's yard. 

"Look at my foot!"

Kim steps out of the car, making sure to not hit her left arm against anything, and sees Trini on the ground with her left foot in the air. She looks and Trini’s left foot has a plated gold armor around it. 

"Why is this happening?"

"How should I know?!"

"You're the one always talking to Zordon, maybe he said something about how we morph?"

"He hasn't told me shit, he's cryptic as hell! Let's just get to the ship and focus on training."

Kim nods and they eventually get to the pit where they are the last to show up. Their armor faded away when they were walking so they decide not to mention that it happened and just train. Trini spends most of the day climbing the walls and jumping down on putties from above and it's totally distracting but Alpha stops them right before a putty can clock her in the face and give her another black eye. Trini, however was mid landing from a rock outcropping so she lands straight on that ground face first.

"OW! Alpha why did you take the putties away without warning anyone!?"

"I'm sorry master Trini but there's something I need to show you. I think you will all enjoy it."

Zack pulls her up and she dusts herself off and follows the direction Alpha went. 

"If it makes you feel any better Trini, you looked really cool before you hit the ground."

"Thanks Billy."

Kim watches as Zack almost carries Trini as they walk and then they stop and see what Alpha wants to show them. Stuck in the walls of the underground cave are five giant constructs, she can't really call them robots, one for each of their colors. 

"These are your Zords, you will need them to fight Rita especially if she has her monster Goldar."

"I'm sorry? What is a Goldar?"

"A giant monster made of gold that will destroy anything in its path to get the Zeo Crystal for her. He will be your main focus when you fight her because she won't care about civilians to get what she wants." 

"Is that a pink fighter jet shaped like a pterodactyl?"

"Yes it is Kimberly,  your Zords are shaped like your power animals. Trini’s is a sabertooth tiger, Jason's is a T-Rex, Billy's is a Triceratops, and Zack’s is a Mastodon."

They all slowly take in the giant mechanical extinct animals and come to the realisation that this is really happening. In a matter of Days the five of them are going to save the world, or die trying. Kim takes a deep breath of air and turns to go back to training. 

"Come on Zack."

"I just want to look a little bit longer."

"ZACK!"

Trini yells out to him at full volume and when he still doesn't turn, she literally picks him up and carries him away from the Zords.

"Crazy girl put me down I was just looking!"

"Yeah right tarado, did you forget that I know you?"

"Okay but can you blame me!?"

"Let's just get back to training. You can look later!"

"You can't tell me that you aren't tempted CG!"

Training continues after that, with Trini stopping Zack from probably destroying public property with a giant robotic elephant. At the end of training Jason is laid out on the ground breathing heavy because he was the last one to fight a group of putties by himself. It's one of Alpha's new training exercises that is supposed to prepare us for a swarm of Putties. Everyone but Trini got their asses handed to them and that wasn't because of her fight skills, she's just so low to the ground that she just rolled out of the way before they could hit her. 

"I don't think I can move."

"Don't you have work? And to get your little sister to my house so she isn't home alone?"

"That doesn't mean that I can move to do those things. Someone needs to carry me. Trini?"

"Oh no you don't want me to do it boss man!"

"Why not? You were just carrying Zack like thirty minutes ago!"

"Yeah but I manhandle him."

"Why?"

"He likes it I don't know."

Zack turns to Kim and waggles his eyebrows at her and she pushes him making them both laugh. Billy ends up helping Jason up and out of the pit, leaving Kim, Zack and Trini in the pit. 

"Don't you have to meet Jason at your house?"

"I'm ready to go whenever you are Princess. Zack you good?"

"Yeah yeah I won't go near the Zords, I actually need to ask Zordon something you two go ahead."

Trini raises her eyebrow in intrigue, but let's it lie and heads out. Kim follows her out and they head back to her house so she can shower and drive them to Trini’s house. When they get there Jason is there with his little sister that Kim can't remember the name of. Trini let's them in then Jason leaves for the community center. They all sit at the table and Kim watches the kids while Trini showers. When she comes back her hair is slightly wet and she's wearing a tank top and sweats. There's a bead of water that drips down from her hair and Kim isn't looking at where it's going! Not at all, she's focused on the biology homework that's in front of her. 

Trini sets two bowls of chips down then starts on the assignment they were given. Two hours pass quickly and Jason is knocking on the door while Trini is cooking dinner for them.

"Kim can you get that I don't want this to burn!"

Kim let's Jason in who instantly goes into the tv room where the children are watching cartoons to give his sister a piece of candy then he sits at the table across from her.

"So what did you two do while I was gone?"

"Homework. We're partners in biology so we had to finish our assignment."

"Sounds boring."

"Yeah well what did you do at work?"

"Worked the concessions stand. I was making smoothies and passing out water all night."

"God I haven't been to the community center in like two years. I bet it still looks the same."

"It could use a remodeling but there's always a reason to go there. PFLAG was yesterday and I got to sit in on the meeting. Well it's not really PFLAG but mainly like ten gay kids and like three adults who just need a place to talk."

"That's...kinda cool actually."

"Yeah and Billy's mom runs it."

Kim knows Dr. Cranston runs PFLAG, she's mentioned it during a few sessions in the past, she just never had the time to go. Plus she already sees her therapist twice a month and that's enough for her. Trini comes back into the dining room during the lull in conversation and places a tray of food on the table. There is about thirty tacos on the tray and Jason instantly starts to grab for one but his hand gets slapped away by Trini. 

"Wash your hands. Both of you actually."

He grumbles and goes upstairs while Kim just goes into the kitchen. Trini places a few more things on the table including the chip bowl from earlier now refilled with tortilla chips. 

"Guys come wash your hands for dinner!"

The twins and Pearl all run into the kitchen and the girls help them wash their hands just as Jason comes back and starts making plates. 

"Two for them three for us!"

Kim watches Jason and Trini work in tandem to set the table, almost as if they do this every time she watches Pearl for him. They all eat and listen as the twins talk about the show they were watching Pearl says something now and then but mostly stays quiet in between Trini and Jason. The door opens and Kim instantly looks over to see who it is like it's her house. 

"Mija who's jeep is that in the driveway? Oh hello Jason and...?"

Kim starts, wipes her mouth and hands, and introduces herself to Trini’s father.

"It's mine sir, Kimberly Hart. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Kimberly, and Michael is fine no need for all that sir nonsense."

They shake hands and Michael's grip is strong but Kim’s is stronger from years of gymnastics and meeting fathers of significant others who value handshakes. Michael looks pleasantly surprised by the grip but doesn't say anything about it.

"I hope you made enough for me and your mother to take to work?"

"I made thirty, using abuela's recipe and there's leftover meat to make just a dish of rice and the meat."

"You didn't leave in that shirt."

"I had got something on it at lunch so I changed as soon as I got home. It's already in the wash."

"Hmm."

He makes a plate and kisses all of his children on their heads before retiring in the living room to watch the sport highlights. He would normally sit at the table but there is no room with Kim there. When the twins finish their food they join him in the other room before they have to go to bed. Trini starts to clean up and Kim stands to help her. Trini hands her a bowl of three tacos some rice and a lime wedge.

"For Zack or yourself if you see him or not. I want my container back too, my mom will kill me if I don’t."

"Can we even die?"

"I don't want to find out!"

"I'll make sure to bring it back and I'll take Jason home. Are you okay though, I saw you yawn like ten times today and you just look really tired?"

"Yeah I'm fine just bad dreams last night. I've just been having nightmares but I'm fine."

Kim knows a lie when she hears one so finally she presses Trini on the subject at hand.

"What are they about?"

"Losing in a few days. What happens if we lose? Because it doesn't seem like we're supposed to lose. Zordon and his team lost what makes him think that we'll win when he didn't? The world will just end on the backs of five teenage screwups!"

A tear falls from Trini’s cheek and Kim watches as she catches it and wipes it away, letting herself be vulnerable in front of her. Trini is right and the fears that Zordon has drilled into their heads has kept her up at night too, but she never thought that she would see tears from Trini. She moves a little closer and rests a hand on her arm in a weak attempt at comfort but it seems to make Trini stop crying so she goes with it. 

"Look you can't think about negative outcomes because when you do they tend to happen. At least that's what my therapist says. I have those thoughts too but then I think about all the training we've been putting in and I know that we nothing the worry about. Just think about your brothers and how cool they'll be when they have a big sister who saved the world?"

Trini laughs and wipes a few more tears away and shakes her head.

"God they would be so annoying about it. Thanks Kim that actually helped. You have a good therapist."

"Well she's the only youth therapist in town so she better be good. Everything is going to be okay I promise. We can do this."

Kim throws her a hopeful smile and Trini smiles back. Jason joins them in the kitchen, carrying Pearl on his back who is smiling around a sucker stick.

"Kim are you taking us home?"

"You ready?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Trini, say bye Pearl."

"Bye Trini."

"I'll walk you guys out." 

Trini takes Pearl from Jason and starts whispering in her ear making her giggle and hug Trini tighter. They all walk to Kim’s jeep and Trini places Pearl in the back seat. 

"Let me know you got in okay like Alpha said she doesn't care if people die." 

They both nod and Kim drives off with Trini watching from the curb before she goes inside for the night. Pearl falls asleep five minutes into the drive leaving Jason and Kim technically alone in a silent car. 

"I morphed today."

"You did when?"

"I was in the car talking with Trini and I went to grab my bag and it was just my hand covered in pink armor. I didn't even feel it happen it was just there."

"I wonder why it keeps happening like this. What do we have to be motivated by to get this to work?"

"I mean Billy stopped you and Zack from fighting because he cares about you, I clearly care about Trini. Maybe we have to be motivated by our emotions."

"What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing really just about our childhood and where we're from. She was telling me about one of the cities she lived in."

"We need to figure out how to morph and soon these scars are hard to explain to my mom. Especially when they completely vanish in two days."

"Yeah my English teacher pulled me aside to ask me if everything was okay at home because of that black eye I had. I told her I joined martial arts and my opponent got a good hit on me."

"You're a good liar Kim."

"Thank you, it's really been coming in handy the last few weeks."

Jason chuckles to himself as Kim pulls up to his house and parks in front. He pulls out his phone and she watches as he texts Trini then puts it back in his pocket. He pulls out his wallet and hands her twenty dollars before getting a still sleeping Pearl out of the backseat and leaving.

"Thanks for the ride Kim. See you tomorrow."

She makes sure they make it inside then goes home to write in her therapy homework journal. She puts the food Trini gave her in the fridge, sends her a text that she's home and heads straight to her room. Kim opens her journal to a fresh page and thinks for a moment before writing her thoughts out on the page.

_Tuesday, September 10th_

_Today was a pretty good day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow two good days in a row? Way to go Kim!


	16. False Bottom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three days without sleep makes Trini....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italics - Trini’s thoughts  
> Bold Italics - Rita talking to her  
> (It gets Dark at the end so fair warning)

Rita is back in her head as soon as she's back in the house. She seems to take a dislike to Kim especially calling her weak and saying that she is not worth her time. Trini ignores her the best she can and takes out her contacts after a long day, starting her nightly ritual. She washes her face and takes a long look at herself in the mirror after she towels off. Her muscles are the biggest they've ever been and her fingers are scarred and rough from punching literal rock monsters. 

She has a stocky build, and with all this muscle she looks like a gym rat twelve year old. If only the powers she has could give her a few more inches to her height she might actually like the way she looks right now. Not that she hates the way she looks, not at all, but everything is in one place and the height would proportion everything nicely. 

Trini’s phone goes off and it's Jason telling her he's safe and inside with Pearl. He sends another a minute later telling her that he gave Kim twenty dollars for gas like she told him to. That alone takes her out of her thoughts long enough to respond and get ready for bed. 

Her dreams are still out of wack when she tries to sleep, but it's not what she told Kim. She kind of regrets lying to her, but she doesn't know if she can trust Kim yet. She's not afraid of losing because the world will end, she's afraid of the other rangers, who she's grown to care about, dying and her becoming Rita’s thrall. She's seen what Rita will do with the world, and while that does scare her being a sex slave to an eons old being is way scarier. 

Since she isn't sleeping anyway she decides to watch that show Billy told her about on Netflix. She gets to episode seven and she starts crying when Elena starts talking about her possibly being gay. She doesn't know if it's because it's relatable or if it touches on her own fears of telling her mother but she cries anyway. She stops crying a little bit later but by the finale she's in tears again when abuela shows Elena her new dress. When the father doesn't show up for the dance at the quinces she's bawling.

Her quinces was small, she didn't have a big dance with friends just her brothers and one with her dad. She had to wear a big yellow puff ball of a dress, not a tasteful suit like Elena got to. Her father had to sit her down before they even started planning the party. The party wasn't for her, it was for her mother to show off her daughter that hasn't gotten pregnant by the time she turned fifteen like the majority of her cousins had. He told her to just grin and bare through it and he would do something special that she would want after the party. She didn't fight her mother on most of the decisions except for the color of her dress, because she wasn't going to wear a pink dress for anyone. If she could redo that day she would wear a suit like Elena got to wear and dance with her brothers and her father, if her mother doesn't like who she is she doesn't have to be there.

She got three hours of sleep that night and she can feel it in the morning. She's out of it on the walk to the elementary school, Billy is smart enough not ask her about it in front of the twins, but as soon as they're gone he brings it up.

"How was your night last night? You look like you didn't get any sleep."

"Is that your way of saying I look like shit?"

"NO I would never say you look like that! You just look very tired is all."

"It's okay I do look like shit I wouldn't have fought you on that. I've just been having nightmares as the days until the battle get smaller and smaller."

"As long as she doesn't find and get to the Zeo Crystal before us, we have the upper hand."

"Did you forget the giant monster made of an almost indestructible metal that she'll have on her side?"

"We have Zords."

"We can't even morph yet, how are we supposed to know how to use those when the time comes?"

"The devil doesn't need an advocate."

"Well someone has to think about this stuff. I gotta go, I'll see you in class Billy."

She walks away from Billy into the building and she regrets walking away from him so soon, not just because of Rita but because she didn't mean to argue with him like that. It's not her fault she's cranky she's just tired because of Rita. Her day gets worse from there with Rita in her head who won't shut up, she answers questions in class wrong, jumps at random sounds, and is just plain rude to the people around her. Billy is watching her in their Engilsh class and that was the only time she wasn't fighting the demon in her head.

She almost hugs Jason when she walks into the library and sees him. As she sits down at the almost empty table Rita’s presence fades out of her mind and Trini sighs with relief. 

"Someone has been having a hard day. You okay?"

"I'm just tired, I haven't been getting any sleep lately. You don't mind of I get a quick nap in do you?"

"No go ahead you sound like you need it."

She takes her jacket off and uses it as a pillow and sleeps through her free period. It's not a lot of sleep but it's the first time she's gotten actual restful sleep since Rita entered her mind. When she wakes up she feels better, not by much, but it's a drastic difference. Math she's back to fighting to ignore the extremely horny and incredibly distracting Rita while she does algebraic equations. Billy is waiting for her at her locker and she smiles at him.

"I didn't think you would want to walk to lunch together after that argument we had."

"I am still upset, but I have to keep with my routine."

"I am sorry about that Billy, I wasn't actually angry I just haven't been getting a lot of sleep because of these dreams."

"You should have told me I would have understood that. I'm glad you aren't actually angry with me, I like having someone to talk comic books with."

"Me too, and by the way you should have warned me about One Day At a Time, I spent most of the night in tears."

"But they were good tears though right?"

"Yeah they were good tears. The show was so good."

"I'm glad you liked it. They're making season two right now and I can't wait for it. We can watch it together when it drops, and don't worry about crying my mom cried when we watched it together."

The rest of the day she has more time with the other rangers than without so she survives her last three classes and training fine. Zack is giving her a weird look and she just waits for him to pull her aside but he doesn't. They fight putties and honestly she remembers none of it, her muscle memory kicked in and did most of the work for her. They can all tell she's off her game but still they don’t say anything. As Billy walks home with her she just waits for the other shoe to drop but it doesn't, he just talks about how his reflexes are much quicker than before. They stop in front of Trini’s house, Jason isn't there with Pearl yet so it's just the two of them. 

"Do you want to come in? I was completely spaced out in Math and History today and I know you have a crazy memory. I need your help to do this homework."

"Sure I'll just text my mom I'll be a little bit longer."

"Cool I just need to take a shower first you can hang with the twins while you wait."

She feels terrible for using Billy like this, but she needs as much time away from Rita she can get. Especially since she knows that she won't be getting much sleep later. Once Pearl gets there homework is done, the twins speed through their work so they can read comics and talk to Billy. She makes chicken and rice for dinner, something simple, but Billy doesn't stay to eat he has dinner with his mother. He actually just misses Jason by about five minutes but she doesn't think that's a coincidence or anything just timing. 

Jason offers to do the dishes for her since she was so tired earlier so she helps Pearl get ready to go. Pearl wraps her arms around her shoulders in a sideways hug and Trini smiles. She loves children before the world and society ruins them. She pushes past the tiredness behind her eyes and gets the two of them home and herself back to get some sleep.

The nightmare starts out the same as all the others do. Rita is standing over her spent, injured body and all the other rangers are scattered around her dead. She doesn't need to check them to make sure Rita always tells her that she lost and that they're all dead as soon as she wakes up in the dream. The speech is always the same too. 'After ten thousand years of waiting and planning finally I can take my revenge on the world and the ones that shunned me starting with Zordon and his precious rainbow rangers. You glorified security guards have been in my way for far too long and that you're all broken and bloodied there is no one powerful enough to stop me!'

This is the point in the dream where Trini would stand and say something like "You didn't defeat me I am still strong enough to defeat you". Which is honestly wishful thinking because she can feel the broken bones in her body and the concussion she has so a stiff breeze could take her out right now if it wanted to. She stands anyway, not going down without a fight, even though it wouldn’t be much of a fight.She's wobbly in her stance as Rita walks closer to her, her leg is probably broken, but she doesn't fall. Rita stands in front of her and goes 'That's because I wanted you alive, you may not be my yellow but you're close enough.' After that the dream goes into grotesque sexual acts, that are rape, between her and Rita that feel real enough that she wakes out of her sleep panting and sweating. 

Trini gets out of the bed and grabs one of Billy's comic book binders and starts reading until she falls asleep again and the dream repeats. She doesn't use her alarm anymore, she almost broke it the other day so she just unplugged it, she's already awake when it goes off anyway so why bother? She goes through her routine and is out the door with the twins right on time to meet Billy. If she looks tired he doesn't say anything about it to her, he just smiles at her and offers the twins a high five each. 

Today she only has one class with a ranger and that's Kim at the end of the day. She's never looked forward to biology more than she has today. She's irritable through the bulk of the day until she's called to the principal's office right before lunch. She can assume that this in because of her tearing Kim's locker door off it's hinges Tuesday, but she goes if only to get out of American History early. The Principal's secretary gets her name wrong and calls her Didi Gomez and she doesn't even bat an eye as she goes in the office and sits in front of his desk. 

"Ms. Gomez? Am I getting your name correct?"

"No you aren't but it's fine. Why am I here?"

"We have video of you damaging school property, you tore the door of someone else’s locker off of the wall and threw it into a classroom almost hitting a teacher."

"Maybe I wouldn't have to damage school property if you did something about the bullying in your school. Kimberly Hart's locker was vandalized with racial slurs and telling her to kill herself."

"Well Kimberly should have come to the office and filed a complaint and we would have handled it."

"I would like to file a complaint about my own locker covered in racist graffiti. You're just going to get the janitor to paint over it so why bother even coming to you?"

"You come to me so you don't get in trouble, Ms. Cortez. I apologize for getting your name wrong earlier."

"It's fine all your teachers get it wrong too, just tell me if I have detention or if I'm getting sent home."

"Two months Saturday detention starting this week. Ms. Cortez, if you're serious about the locker vandalism, it's not that I didn't know about it, I just can't catch them."

"Your cameras caught me."

With that last statement she stands and leaves to go to lunch a little bit early. She still walks with Billy but she's standing at her locker waiting a little bit longer than normal. Like the two days before Kim passes her an energy drink when no one is looking and she takes it gratefully. She's sure that Kim has just started to bring two of them just to give her one. She doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth and opens the Redbull with a grateful nod to the other girl. As they're throwing away their trash Kim comes up to her.

"You want to walk to Biology together?"

"I have to get my book first but sure."

"Speaking of lockers can I put my bag in your's? They haven't gotten me a new one yet."

"So you've been carrying all your stuff all day?"

"No, I had it in my car until my free period."

"Yeah you can put your stuff in my locker until they fix yours. Come on."

They walk together in silence, not awkward by any means, just nothing to say. They get to her locker and Kim stops her from opening it to read the graffiti on it. 

"How long has your door been like this?"

"About a month after I moved here. Don't really know what I did to deserve it, since I know for a fact that eighty percent of this school can't even get my name right, besides being different. It's all stuff I've heard before so I don't pay it any attention."

"I'm sorry you've had to look at this stuff for a year, I couldn't even look at mine for three days."

"When you've been picked on all your life for existing, stuff just starts to roll off your back. You've always been popular, and maybe you got some racist micro-aggressions tossed at you, but this is the first time the people you used to call your friends have been this outright with how they really feel about you. It's a lot to take in. It  doesn't mean you aren't as strong as me, it just means you aren't as jaded."

Kim takes a deep breath and she can tell she hit the nail on the head about what Kim was feeling. Weak.

"How do you keep doing that? Am I that easy to read?"

"You're a walking stereotype princess, let's go to class."

"I don't know if I should take offense to that or not. Aren't we all stereotypes?"

"Yeah, but at least I'm an interesting one."

Kim laughs Trini feels warm at making the beautiful half-Indian girl laugh. It's hard to deny her crush on the taller girl, there's a reason mind!Rita hates her so much. It won't amount to anything, they're teammates and being together might ruin the dynamic they have. Plus just because they both like girls, she eighty five percent sure Kim is bi, doesn't mean they have to be together. She needs friends and especially needs friends that are other queer girls. Her want to always make Kim smile can wait, being selfish never really works out for her anyway.

With Mind!Rita quiet during biology, Trini sleeps through the class only to be woken up by Kim in the last fifteen minutes of the class. The teacher turns off the projector he was showing their notes on and turns to the class to speak.

"As your end of the section test has arrived, I have prepared a study guide that you will pick up on your way out today. The test will be on Tuesday so be prepared as soon as you walk in."

She looks down at Kim's notes and frowns, she slept through the whole hour and forty-five minute class. Yeah she needed the sleep, but she also missed valuable information that will be on the test. Now she knows how Spider-man feels, Miles' Spider-man specifically. As the both take a packet Trini starts flipping through hers as Kim looks over her shoulder. 

"So save the world Saturday then study for a test Sunday. Packed weekend."

"We could let Rita win so we wouldn't have to study."

"I don't think the guys would be cool with that. We'll just have to make time for both. Can you drive me to get my brothers?"

"Yeah sure."

Once the boys are in the house, Kim hands her another energy drink almost out of no where, and Trini just looks at it.

"What the hell, do you buy in bulk or something?"

"Mom has a Costco card, and she left it while she went on a business trip."

"You're an only child why do you have a Costco card?"

"My dad needs it to do his job as an event planner, sometimes he doubles as a catering company for extra money."

"So like he buys cases of water and drinks for the bar and stuff?" 

"Yeah sometimes. Now drink that so you don't look drunk while fighting putties, you were slow to react yesterday because you were tired."

"Yes mom."

She opens the Redbull and drinks it slowly, and it gives her a boost of energy for the first half of training. She's dodging punches and every grab the putties try to make, but like Barry Allen when he drinks, the feeling is only short term because of her much faster metabolism. She becomes sluggish halfway through a simulated fight and gets rocked by a punch to the abdomen that sends her into the wall behind her. Everyone stops when they see it because it's rare that Trini let's the putties get hits on her and that was a bad hit. Zack, was closest to her so he gets there first, but Kim is a close second. Trini shakes her head when she comes to, it's not the first timeshe's been knocked on her back but it's probably the worst time. Actually no, falling off the cliff was probably worse, she still doesn't know how she didn't get hurt from that.

"Ow. Now I know how what you guys have been feeling when you fight these things."

The two of them help her to stand and sit on a higher rock while she gets some air. Jason and Billy make it over to her and Jason makes it a point to be a leader right now.

"Are you okay Trini?"

"Yeah I just got the wind knocked out of me. I just need to sit for five."

"Okay go ahead and get your breath back, come on everyone let's get back to it."

Zack gives her a look, one to ask if she's really okay, and she nods. Nothing is broken and sure she's sore, but that will go away by the time they leave. He goes back to training and she lays back against the rock for a moment just breathing. This is the first time she's really been a peace with herself in the last few days, she hasn't been calm enough to do Yoga since this all started, but in this moment she feels at peace. She doesn't fall asleep, she just lays there and doesn't think at all, for once. 

Eventually she does join the rest of them and finishes training fighting putties back to back with Kim. When Kim swings low, she jumps high for a well placed kick. She goes low and Kim throws her putty into her lunging one, making them collide. She even at one point cups her hands to boost Kim high enough to flip over the giant monster so they can double team the one that wasn't destroyed in the collision. When that one crumbles, two more pop up in their place and they start over. The boys are all watching them completely destroy these putties and Zack pulls out his phone and starts to record them.

"Zack, put your phone away man."

"It's not going to hurt anyone to record this they look awesome!"

"What if you send it to someone by accident?"

"The only contacts in my phone are in this room, so I think you're safe on that front Jason."

The girls are completely oblivious to the boys as Kim launches Trini in the air for a flying superman punch to the putty's face. Because she's connected to the morphing grid, Trini knows what Kim’s gonna do before she does it. Because of that she knows where to move and how to accommodate for Kim's weaknesses when it comes to fighting. This goes on for another ten minutes before Alpha turns the putties off. Kim swings through air and Trini ducks at nothing before they realize the putties are gone and they stop. Billy starts clapping, gaining their attention and Kim bows for her audience while Trini rolls her eyes.

"So you guys were just watching us instead of fighting your own putties? Children I swear. Get back to work!"

When they leave training  Kim drives Trini and Billy to her house then leaves to get Pearl from Jason's house and take him to work. By the time Trini is done with her shower, Kim has come back with Pearl. All three of them have the same Biology class, Billy's is on Monday and Wednesday, so they all have a test to study for. Trini copies down the notes from today's class whill Billy goes through the study guide telling Kim what pages in the book they'll need. They study for two hours until Trini has to start making dinner and Billy has to go home. 

"Trini we're done can we watch cartoons now? Adventure Time is almost on."

"Yeah go ahead I'll check it later."

Kim watches from the table as she's putting her things away. Trini doesn't even turn their direction, she's focused on whatever she's making them for dinner. The children go into the living room and she waits until she hears the theme song for the show before speaking.

 "Have the dreams gotten better?"

"No, in fact they've gotten worse. I barely slept last night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the death and destruction Rita would cause."

Like last time, Trini stops herself from telling Kim the full truth about the nightmares Rita gives her. Holding back is what she's good at and she's not even thinking about doing it, it's just happens. If she wants to make friends any time soon, she's going to have to work on that. 

"What do you think is causing them?"

_The presence of Rita in Angel Grove._

"I don't know but I need to actually get some sleep soon otherwise I'll be no good in a fight." 

"Well if you need a place to take a nap my place is empty while my parents are gone. I could even watch the twins while you sleep."

_God why are you doing this to me I don't want to have to say no to you._

"Thanks for the offer but the twins are even a handful for me, let alone people that don't know them. I'll be fine don't worry."

"You want to know something I've noticed about you? You never take help when you need it."

_Please PLEASE don't make me do this Kimberly I don't want to do this to you._

"You don't know me Kim, so don't pretend like you do."

Kim stands walks towards her so she's standing at the counter directly in front of her. 

"Look I get it, you have the whole loner vibe going for you, but that doesn't mean you have to push people away when they get close. Fight that first instinct."

"That's nowhere near my first instinct."

 _My first instinct is to grab you and_ never _let go._

"Well it's going to take a lot more than a few bad words to push me away, -"

_Yes fight me Kim don't listen to me._

"But you clearly want to be alone right now so I'm going to go. See you tomorrow Trini."

Trini watches sadly as Kim grabs her bag and leaves. Everything inside her was telling her to not do that but it's what she's always done. Whenever she's had a crush on a girl, she puts distance between them so as to not get in trouble. Her mom would kick her out if she had a girlfriend and she doesn't know what she would do then. Yeah she's been saving her money but she has no where to go if she does get kicked out. 

**_You don't need her when you have me my love. I'll always be with you._ **

Oh great Mind!Rita can read her thoughts and respond to them now. Just what she needs, another thing to make her look crazy. She shakes her head and looks down at the meal she somehow made while arguing with Kim. 

"Guys dinner!"

The twins and Pearl run into the kitchen to wash their hands and she makes plates for them. 

"Where did Kim go?"

"She had to go home her parents needed her."

"Okay."

She hates lying to her brothers, but this is a necessary evil for the time being. Jason comes in as she sets the last plate down on the table. Kim must have left the door unlocked when she left because she knows she locked it earlier.

"Hands."

"Kim left?"

She walks closer to him, so the twins don't hear two different lies in the span ten minutes. 

"Said she wasn't feeling well so she went home. I told her I would take you home so she could leave."

"I hope it's nothing serious, I'll text her later."

They eat the steak and onions she made, while the twins tell them about the episode of Adventure Time they just watched. Trini needs to catch up, maybe she will use Billy's Hulu login after all. Michael walks in right at the end of the story greets his three children with a kiss on the head, he ruffles Pearl's hair and pats Jason on the shoulder. He grabs a plate and sits down without a word and starts eating. 

"Niña this taste just like your abuela's."

"She was the one that taught me, something good did come out of those summers in Texas."

"If all the Mexican food Trini has made me has been her Grandmother's recipes, you should open a restaurant. You would make a lot of money because the one Mexican place near here is the taco bell on route five."

"I've always wanted to do that Jason, but we just don't have the money right now. Maybe when the twins get older and I have some more money saved up."

Trini drives Jason and Pearl home after Jason insists on doing the dishes for her. It's the first time she's drove since Rita entered her conscious and subconscious thoughts. She stays focused on the road as best she can, but it's difficult. Every time she sees a pedestrian they look like Rita or another ranger but injured in some way. She presses on until she gets to the light before her house. It's Rita and Kim standing in the middle of the sidewalk talking it looks like, but Rita is looking right at her. Suddenly she can hear Rita speak as if she's the one right in front of her instead of Kim. 

_**"Sorry pinky but it's either you or me and it's gonna be me this time."** _

Before Trini can focus on the "this time" spoken she kills Kim while staring right at her. She blinks and shakes her head but Kim is still bleeding out on the sidewalk in front of her. The light turns green but she's still staring at the image horrified. She steels herself and continues driving home. She gets up to her room and takes a few deep breaths to calm down and right as she starts to feel better, Rita appears in front of her. Trini presses herself against the wall in fear of this thing that she just watched kill someone without mercy even if it was just in her head.

_**"You are mine and I will destroy anything and anyone in my way. We belong together my yellow."** _

Trini tries shaking her head again but it doesn't work. Rita is in her head and the only way to get rid of her is to get rid of the actual Rita. 

"You aren't real! You aren't real! You are not real!"

Rita downright smirks at her, a lecherous grin with her rotten and golden teeth peeking through cracked dry lips. 

" _ **Not yet but I will be my love and I'm going to kill that pink bitch for trying to take you away from me!"**_

Trini’s mind flashes back to the image of Kim bloodied on the sidewalk and she charges towards visual of Rita with nothing but desperation and anger fueling her. The vision disappears as she runs through it as she screams, thank God her room is soundproof. High on her adrenaline she searches for her in her room, tearing it apart. Suddenly she hears laughter in her head and stops in her tracks.

_**"You're going crazy. Just how I like my women, crazy for me."** _

"Fuck you Rita."

She grabs a bag out of the closet and a sleeping bag and jumps out of the window. She can't take another night of dreams where a psycho sexually assaults her under the guise of love. She runs to Billy's house and feels the pressure lifted off of her shoulders instantly when she gets there. She sighs in relief and starts to climb up to the roof, he would probably let her spend the night if she asked but she isn't thinking clearly. She doesn't know if she's lucky or if it's a dumb coincidence but Billy's house has a flat roof, so she has no fear of falling off the side. As she closes her eyes as sleep comes to her she has no thoughts in her head but her own and one stands out loud and clear.

"I'm going to fucking kill you Rita Repulsa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> False Bottom - when you think you're at rock bottom but it's just the first stop downward

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Reading  
> Peace,  
> Meags✌✌


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